


Asking For Help Ain't A Bad Thing

by Fullmetal_Bitch



Series: Medic Lance [3]
Category: Voltron: Legendary Defender
Genre: Gen, Lance Needs a Hug, Lance can talk to the Lions, Mild Language, Some Mild Blood, he gets a lot of them, no judging allowed in this team, she/her pronouns for pidge, team as a family, they love him too
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-13
Updated: 2021-01-23
Packaged: 2021-03-11 02:07:12
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 7
Words: 61,865
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28037418
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Fullmetal_Bitch/pseuds/Fullmetal_Bitch
Summary: After the events at Tra'Crolle, Lance has been trying his best to ask the team for help when he needs it rather than doing everything by himself. Here are 6 times he did and the 1 time he didn't have to.Story is better than the summary, I swear. Posting happens every Sunday, Queensland, Australia time. Author lives for comments and kudos!
Relationships: Allura & Coran & Hunk & Keith & Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt & Shiro, Allura & Lance (Voltron), Coran & Lance (Voltron), Hunk & Lance (Voltron), Keith & Lance (Voltron), Lance & Pidge | Katie Holt, Lance & Shiro (Voltron), Lance & Space Mice (Voltron), Voltron Paladins & Voltron: Legendary Defender Team
Series: Medic Lance [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/1372870
Comments: 23
Kudos: 67





	1. Chapter 1

"Hey, Coran!" A voice behind the orange-haired Altean called just before Coran disappeared into one of the many unused rooms that he cleaned every once in a while, just in case it was needed by any of the Castle-Ship's occupants. Coran turned around and grinned at one of his favourite humans as he approached him at a light jog.

"Hello, Lance. I didn't expect to see you today. I thought it was your day off?" Coran queried as Lance came to a stop next to him.

"It is," Lance told him, "but there's something I want to ask you. A favour, really," Lance said, shifting a little uncomfortably as he spoke but Coran merely gave him a proud smile that had Lance flushing.

It had been over two phoebes – or months, as the humans insisted on calling them – since Lance's almost disastrous solo mission on Tra'Crolle and Hunk's talk with everyone while Lance was sleeping off the effects of the healing pod. Lance had been mostly perplexed by everyone's behaviour in the first few days following that talk but had just chalked it up to the fact that he'd almost died again since it had calmed down not even a week later. He hadn't been impressed when it had taken almost a week for Coran to clear him fit for training and missions once more but his annoyance had lessened when Coran told him the extra caution was only because he had come out of the healing pod earlier than anyone anticipated and because he'd been so drowsy afterwards.

Coran had noticed the few subtle changes between Lance and the rest of the occupants of the Castle-Ship and he was extremely pleased that not a single one of those changes was negative. They'd all taken Hunk's advice on board and made sure to praise Lance for his accomplishments as soon as they could and both Shiro and Allura had been far better at giving Lance pointers on improving something when they'd had to criticize his performances. Pidge was still her snarky self towards everyone, Lance included, but she never ignored Lance or brushed him off if he expressed interest in her projects like she'd done a few times during their Voltron adventure. Keith was the biggest change and sometimes the memories of the raven-haired teenager's awkward but well-received attempts at helping Lance with his training or asking for the Cuban's help with his Altean lessons made Coran smile randomly. Only Hunk and Coran hadn't changed how they treated Lance all that much but both of them still found themselves being extra affectionate towards Lance whenever he was near them.

However all of this improvement didn't mean that Lance was no longer uncomfortable with asking the others for help when he needed it, something he believed made him a burden to his team. He was slowly improving under the careful coaxing of the Lions and his team but it was still a rare moment when Lance was the one to approach one of them for help without someone suggesting it, thus why Coran's smile was full of pride. "Of course, my boy! What can I do for you?" Coran asked, turning so he was completely facing Lance now, making sure the teenager knew he had Coran's full attention.

Lance scratched the back of his neck, the only obvious sign he gave of his nerves. "Well, I'd noticed that Allura has seemed rather down the last couple of quintets," Lance explained and Coran felt his smile droop slightly. Lance obviously noticed it because his eyes gleamed with victory at being proven right. "I didn't want to ask her because I wasn't sure if it was a sensitive subject or something and I didn't want to make her drag up bad memories, you know?" Lance asked but continued before Coran could do more than nod. "So I asked the mice if they knew what was bothering her and if I could help at all. I don't know for certain since I don't speak mice and I'm not that great at charades, no matter how talented the little furballs are, but from what I gathered, it's nearly the anniversary of someone's death, someone Allura was close too. Is that right?" Lance asked and Coran could feel his heart sink a little as the memories of what Lance suspected came to the forefront of his mind.

"My boy, you are correct," Coran said, his voice a little thicker than normal as he spoke. "You see, in a few quintets, it will be the anniversary of Queen Melenor's death. Had this war not happened, it would be the tenth decaphoebe since her passing," Coran told him. "As close as Princess Allura was with King Alfor, she was far closer with her mother and her death devastated Allura. Every time the anniversary of Queen Melenor's passing draws close, Princess Allura pulls away from those around her so she can grieve silently. This behaviour lasts until a couple of quintets after the anniversary date before she's back to her normal self," Coran said, giving Lance a reassuring smile.

"Do you think -?" Lance started to ask before cutting himself off with a frustrated scowl that quickly turned apologetic.

"It's alright, Lance. I won't be upset by anything you ask," Coran assured him, happy with himself when Lance's shoulders relaxed.

"Do you think it would be alright if I made her something?" Lance asked, a little quieter than normal, as though he was nervous about what Coran would think. "It's just – when my _t_ _í_ _o_ died, my _mam_ _á_ and my _abuela_ gave me a stuffed bear they'd made from one my _t_ _í_ _o's_ favourite shirts. They had made ones for my little cousins as well and my _t_ _í_ _a_ insisted they make one for me as well. Having something I could hold when I was missing him helpedme a lot," Lance told Coran.

"That's a very sweet idea, Lance, but I'm not sure any of Queen Melenor's clothing still remain," Coran said apologetically. "I believe King Alfor had it all removed, with the exception of her wedding dress and two or three dresses that Allura loved and I know for certain that Allura would not allow the destruction of any of her mother's dresses," Coran told him but to his surprise, Lance shook his head.

"No, I wasn't thinking about making her something like my bear," Lance told him. "I was actually thinking about knitting her something. Maybe a sweater?" Lance said and Coran found his interest piqued.

"'Knitting'? 'Sweater'?" he asked curiously and Lance smiled slightly.

"A sweater is an item of clothing people wear, generally during colder weather. If you think of it as a thicker, warmer version of a long-sleeved shirt, you're on the right track," Lance explained and Coran gave a nod, letting Lance know he understood. "Knitting is something considered a hobby, though I'm sure a few people back on Earth have managed to make a living off of it," Lance said before he realised he was about to get off track. "Anyways, it's a hobby that typically requires yarn and knitting needles. There's a lot of things you can knit but I thought a sweater might be a good idea because they're really cozy and comfy," Lance finished telling him, his cheeks flushing slightly.

"That sounds marvelous!" Coran exclaimed in delight. "I don't know what this 'yarn' is but your knitting sounds very similar to something Alteans used to do before we invented machines to make our clothing for us!" he told him. "I think there's a room a few levels up that will hold everything you're after," Coran said thoughtfully, "but I want to hear your ideas for this sweater you want to make while we walk, okay, my boy?"

Lance gave him a blinding smile. "Sure thing, Coran, my man," he agreed easily.

"Marvelous," Coran said, beaming back at him before he placed his hand on the electronic pad next to the door he'd opened when Lance had first approached him. Gesturing for Lance to follow him, Coran headed down the hallway for the closest elevator. "Now, tell me about this idea of yours."

* * *

Seven quintets after Lance and Coran had spoken about Lance's idea, Queen Melenor's anniversary was upon them. When Allura didn't appear in the dining room for breakfast, everyone bar Lance and Coran gave the doorway a worried look. It wasn't until breakfast was nearly half over that anyone voiced their concerns but Coran was quick to put them to rest.

"Allura's mother, Queen Melenor, passed away on this date," Coran explained, his voice betraying his own grief. "Please do not be alarmed if you do not see the princess at all today. She'll likely spend her time in her mother's garden or in her parents' room. I promise I will ensure that she eats something today but please do not disturb her unless it is vital," Coran requested.

"Of course, Coran," Shiro said solemnly. "Please pass our condolences on to Allura when you do see her," he asked and Coran gave a nod.

"I will," the orange-haired Altean promised.

The atmosphere in the dining room was a little heavier than it had been earlier but no one commented on it. As this was one of the days where there was no training scheduled for anyone – something Shiro had somehow managed to convince Allura was necessary back when they were first coming up with a schedule for chores, training, and lessons – no one was in a rush to finish their breakfast. So they ate at their own pace and, one by one, finished their food and left the dining room to start on their plans for the day. Lance was one of the last to leave and once he'd put his dirty dishes in the dishwasher, he headed for his room so he could finish the last few touches on his present to the grieving princess.

The sweater was designed to be a little big on Allura, which is what Lance wanted since he was of the firm belief that the baggier the sweater, the comfier it was. Her measurements were given to Lance by Coran, who had snuck into Allura's room while she was busy with the Paladins training and used one of the last dresses made for her before Altea's destructions to get said measurements. After discussing his ideas with Coran earlier and getting some suggestions from the Altean advisor, Lance had settled on making the sweater a mix of Allura's and Queen Melenor's favourite colours – baby pink for Allura and a pleasant lavender purple for Melenor, according to Coran – with the fuchsia, three-petalled juniberry flower taking up almost half the front of the sweater. Once again, Coran had been a massive help with that as he'd managed to find a book in the library on Altean flowers that also contained large, clear, coloured pictures of each flower.

All Lance had to finish were the sleeves and the collar of the sweater, as well as make sure everything was nice and neat with no loose strings of yarn anywhere. He was pretty proud of this project since not only was it nearly finished after only a week of where he'd had _maybe_ two full days total to complete it but he was also using a pattern that he'd never seen, let alone done, before. It was a common Altean stitching pattern that Coran had told him about while they were going through the various colours of yarn in the storage room Coran had led him to. This in turn led to Lance finding out that Coran used to do a bit of knitting when he was younger and Lance getting a detailed description of the type of knitting styles Alteans had. The rest of the day had been spent with Coran and Lance sitting on the floor of the storage room while Coran walked Lance through the pattern.

They'd only left the room once Lance was sure he'd gotten the hang of the pattern and had thanked Coran enough for his help. Coran had waved his thanks off with a small laugh and told Lance he'd genuinely enjoyed spending the time with the Blue Paladin and had thanked _him_ for letting him relive part of his youth. Lance was sure he'd flushed horribly at that as he tried to tell Coran he didn't need to thank him and that he'd had a lot of fun before he'd extended an invitation for Coran to find him if he ever wanted to do some knitting again. That had caused the Altean to draw Lance into a bone-crushing hug, squishing the yarn, needles and started project into Lance's chest and he hadn't let go for several ticks. Once the hug had ended and they'd gone their separate ways, Lance had headed straight for his room and didn't leave for nearly six vargas so he could get some dinner. Those six hours had helped Lance become rather efficient in the Altean pattern he was using, aiding him in being able to finish the sweater as quickly as he had been able to with the limited spare time he'd had.

Now here he was, a handful of vargas later, finishing up the last little bit of the sweater. Cutting off the last dangling string, Lance held the completed sweater out in front of him and eyed every row critically. Four lots of chittering caught his attention and he grinned as he watched the four mice wriggle into his room via the air vent. "What do you guys think? Do you think she'll like it?" Lance asked, holding the sweater out so the juniberry was facing them. Platt pretended to swoon into Chulatt's little arms, much to the mouse's annoyance, while Plachu and Chuchule gave Lance an enthusiastic but silent round of applause mixed with tiny cheerful squeaks that caused Lance to flush at the praise. "Thanks, guys," Lance said quietly. Clearing his throat, he folded the sweater carefully and placed it on his bed. "Is Allura in her room?" he asked but the mice shook their heads. "Awesome," he said.

Shooing the mice to the side of his desk, Lance sat and pulled some paper towards him with one hand while he grabbed a pen with the other. Placing the pen tip to the first blank piece of paper, Lance quickly scrawled a few words down for Allura before he folded the paper in half and grabbed the folded sweater. "Want to come with me? We can stop by the kitchen and see if my Hunky-Monkey has made anything," Lance offered, holding his free hand out to the four mice. Promises of maybe getting some of Hunk's cooking were too good to pass up, judging by the way the four mice squeaked and ran up his arm.

Lance chuckled as he waited for them to settle on his shoulders before he gripped the sweater and note closer and headed out of his room. Making his way down the corridors that led him to Allura's chamber, Lance chattered away to the mice about everything on his mind. The mice – despite being limited to squeaks and gestures with everyone bar Allura – were quite good at making themselves understood and in no time at all, they had Lance chuckling at their antics in Kaltenecker's wing the previous day. Lance chided them for running around Kaltenecker's hooves and reminded them to be careful just as they got to Allura's door.

"You're sure she's not in there?" Lance couldn't help but ask. Platt chattered encouragingly while Chuchule patted Lance's cheek. "Alright," he said, taking a deep breath in and placing his hand on the panel next to Allura's door.

The mice were proven right about whether Allura was in her room or not and Lance let out a small sigh of relief. Though he would've liked to give Allura her present in person – he liked seeing how happy someone was when they got something from him – he also didn't want to intrude on Allura's grieving process. Though he'd preferred to have his family with him on the anniversary of his _tío's_ death, he knew that some people preferred grieving alone and he also knew that some of those who preferred grieving by themselves truly didn't appreciate being interrupted for any reason. Placing the folded sweater on the foot of Allura's bed so she would hopefully see it as soon as she walked through the door, Lance made sure the folded note wouldn't somehow fall off the sweater before he left the room, closing the door behind him.

"Now, I believe I promised the four of you a free trip to the kitchen for some of Hunk's food," Lance said, feeling a small weight lifting off his chest now that this project was done and he didn't have to worry about whether he was going to manage to get in finished in time. Four small cheers sounded next to his ears and he felt a genuine grin form. "Then let's go get some."

* * *

After making and eating a sandwich and finding some of Hunk's leftovers for the mice, Lance left the four of them to do whatever they wanted for the rest of the afternoon while he went down a couple of levels to check on Kaltenecker since it had been a couple of quintets since he'd been able to. He told her about what he'd been up to since his last visit while he milked her as she ate the grass-like vegetation they'd managed to find and grow for her to eat. Once he'd finished, he was left with two buckets filled two-thirds of the way with fresh milk and an incredibly happy cow. Draping an arm over her neck, Lance scratched her forelock before promising her he'd be back to see her when he could and left with the fresh milk.

On his way back to the kitchen to deal with the milk, Lance ran into Coran as the Altean headed for his next job on his to-do list. "Hello, Lance!" Coran greeted enthusiastically once he recognised who he had almost bumped into.

"Hey, Coran," Lance said with a smile.

Coran was quick to spot the two buckets Lance was holding and the blue paladin almost grinned when he saw the squeamish look that flickered across Coran's face. The idea of where milk came from still skeeved the two Alteans out and it was hilarious to the humans, mainly because their squeamishness didn't stop them from enjoying whatever dairy delight Hunk came up with. "Visited Kaltenecker, did you?" Coran asked and Lance nodded.

"Yeah, haven't been able to see her the last couple of days and she needed to be milked before she developed any health problems," Lance told him. "I was just heading to the kitchen so I could bottle it for Hunk," Lance said.

"I'll give you a hand, if you'd like," Coran said, reaching out for one of the buckets.

"Are you sure you've got the time?" Lance asked worriedly, not giving the bucket to Coran just yet.

"Quite sure, my boy!" Coran told him. "I was going to find you a little later and ask if you had the time to lend me a hand with a couple of my chores so I'm more than happy to help you out in return," Coran said with an honest smile and Lance finally handed the bucket in his right hand over.

They started walking towards the kitchen and Lance took the chance to roll his right shoulder to try and relieve the muscles. Though not overly heavy, the bucket of milk was still heavy enough to cause his muscles to seize slightly once the weight was removed. "So what do you want my help for, Coran?" Lance asked as they walked.

"Oh, just a couple of the larger storage rooms require cleaning," Coran told him. "They're ones I haven't been able to do since before the five of you and Blue found us. An extra pair of hands or two would certainly help me tackle them far quicker than I could by my lonesome!" Coran exclaimed.

"Well, I'm happy to give you a hand. I was gonna go and see the Lions after I finished with the milk but I can do that after the storage rooms are clean," Lance told him. "Who else were you planning on asking?"

"Thank you, my boy. I really appreciate it," Coran said. "As for who else I planned on asking, I was going to see if I could find Number 1 or Number 2," he told Lance.

"Not Pidge or Keith?" Lance asked but Coran shook his head.

"No, I know Number 5 is busy with her projects and Number 4 is currently training and I don't want to ask him to help clean so soon after a training session," Coran told him and Lance let out an 'ah' of understanding. "Speaking of projects, I thought you would've been finishing up yours," Coran said, glancing at Lance.

"Actually, I, uh, already have," Lance admitted, a light blush forming on his cheeks when Coran gave him a look that was both surprised and proud. "I left it with a note in Allura's room since I didn't want to interrupt her or wait until tomorrow to give it to her since – knowing our luck – we'll have back-to-back missions for like the next week and I'll forget to give it to her for ages," Lance told him.

"Understandable and we certainly wouldn't want that, not after all the hard work you've put into the gift," Coran said with an enthusiastic nod that had Lance chuckling slightly.

They walked in silence for another couple of minutes before Lance spoke up again. "I just wanted to thank you again, Coran," Lance said and Coran looked at him with a slight amount of bemusement on his face.

"You don't have to thank me, my boy. Like I said, I was going to ask for your help later today so I'm happy to count this is my repayment," Coran reminded him but Lance shook his head.

"No, not for your help with bottling the milk," Lance told him. "I wanted to thank you again for your help with Allura's present. I wouldn't have been able to get much more than the design planned without your help. All I asked for was your help finding the materials I needed and colours I should use but you went out of your way by finding me that book on Altean flowers and teaching me the Altean knitting pattern and I'm really grateful for it," Lance said, his voice a little quieter and more sincere than it normally was.

"You can ask me for help with anything at any time, my boy," Coran told him, wrapping his left arm around Lance's shoulders, and pulling his slightly smaller frame into his own for a hug. "I'll always do my best to help you with your endeavors or any conundrums you may have!" Coran swore, a genuine expression on his face.

"Thank, Coran," Lance said, a small, warm smile on his face. "I'll make sure I come to you with any conundrums I might have in the future," he promised in the face of Coran's sincerity. The bright, delighted smile on Coran's face as a result of that promise made any insecurities Lance felt about admitting he might need help almost completely disappear.

"I'm glad," Coran said and Lance just knew his weird space uncle was well aware of what was going through his mind. "Now, let us deal with this milk so we can find Number 1 or Number 2 so we can get this cleaning underway!" Coran exclaimed enthusiastically, making Lance laugh as he almost dragged the blue paladin forward by the one-armed hug he still had him in.

Lance could feel the Lions' pressing on his mind and knew that they were planning on telling him 'told you so' the moment he walked into the main hangar bay, where they all currently were because Pidge had wanted to run tests on all of them after training yesterday. Lance almost groaned at the thought of how smug they'd be because they had been the ones to suggest asking for Coran's help when he realised why Allura wasn't her usual, happy self. They'd made a point of not pushing Lance to do it, wanting it to be his decision to ask for help and they had been incredibly happy and supportive of him when he decided to seek the orange-haired Altean out for his help that day. As Coran rambled on about possible places Shiro or Hunk could be and ways they could entice or bribe one or both of them helping Coran and Lance in cleaning the storage rooms, Lance realised he felt a little lighter than he could remember feeling recently. Maybe, Lance thought, Hunk and the Lions were onto something when they said that no one would judge him for reaching out and asking for help if he needed it.


	2. Chapter 2

Lance hadn't intentionally left the main training room with the goal of finding a secondary training room that had obviously been forgotten about by the two Alteans on the Castle-Ship. He'd left the primary training room because he was sick of always either finding Keith and/or Shiro in there training when he wanted to do some solo-training or not being able to use one of his bayard's forms properly. His sniper rifle was a brilliant weapon but the length of the primary training room wasn't enough for Lance to be able to utilise it properly. Plus, the room never gave him anything he could use as a sniper's hold so he was stuck trying to use his sniper rifle as his normal rifle in a too-small room. He'd only attempted to do that a handful of times before realising he wasn't versatile enough with the large weapon and would end up getting his arse handed to him by the gladiators. Now, if he wanted to practice with his sniper rifle, he had to either wait until they were on a planet that had a gun-range or he had to set up Blue's hangar bay as a makeshift one.

Today he'd headed to the primary training room, hoping it was free so he could go a few rounds with the gladiators and try to one-up his highest score only to find Keith training in it. The Red Paladin didn't notice him opening the door and as a result, he never noticed Lance cuss him out quietly in Spanish as he shut the door and stalked off in a huff. Blue had softly suggested that he should ask Keith if they could train together or wait until he was done with the training room but Lance didn't want that. He didn't want to train with someone and he didn't want to wait for the training room to be free. He spared half a thought to setting up Blue's hangar bay but quickly dismissed it. It was great for practicing but he didn't get much of a challenge out of it anymore since the targets couldn't move or pop up randomly to give him that extra level of training.

" _Why don't you use the other training room?"_ Red suggested, bringing Lance to a stop in the middle of the corridor.

"What other training room?" he inquired, a little annoyed this room had never been mentioned before now but he was willing to let bygones be bygones if Red answered him.

" _I believe Alfor dubbed it the secondary training room,"_ Red told him. _"It wasn't used an awful lot since none of the original Paladins had rifles or blasters like you or Yellow's cub however it was created for that purpose since Alfor knew those forms existed in your bayards,"_ she explained.

"That sounds perfect, Red," Lance said, giving her a telepathic smile that had her mentally flush a little. "Whereabouts is it?" he asked, starting to move forward again.

" _Three levels up,"_ Red told him and Lance beelined for the closest elevator. _"Let me know where you come out so I can direct you from there,"_ she instructed and Lance gave her an agreeing hum.

Getting into the elevator, Lance pushed the button for the level Red had indicated. In no time at all, the doors were opening and Lance was heading out. "I'm, uh," he said as he looked around before he spotted a plaque on a door. "I'm on the level you said and I'm looking at a recreation room?" he told Red. "One that's next to a storage room and opposite what I think was a study," he said, trying to help her pinpoint where he was.

" _Okay, you're at the southern end of the Castle,"_ Red told him. _"You need to head north until you pass the observatory deck and a research room. Once you're there, turn east and go down that corridor until you're about halfway down in,"_ she instructed. _"The secondary training should be there,"_ she said.

Lance immediately started trekking down the corridor, keeping his eyes peeled for the observatory deck and research room. "Thank you, beautiful," Lance said warmly.

He felt Red's blush return in full force. _"Keep that mushy stuff for Blue,"_ she groused, though Lance and her sisters could tell how secretly pleased she was with the nickname.

Lance grinned at the teasing that was happening in his mind as he followed Red's instructions. He couldn't really help himself when he saw an interesting room and ended up making the journey nearly four times longer than it should've been because he kept investigating things. He'd run into the mice on his journey and they'd convinced him to go out of his way to help them into a vent that would give them direct access to the kitchen on the level the Paladins mainly stuck to. Lance wished the four luck as he helped them into the vent before he corrected his path and headed back to the route that would take him to the secondary training room.

He found it with only a few extra directions from Red, who'd noticed he was a little off course, which he thanked her profusely for. Upon entering it, Lance couldn't help the gasp he let out. The room certainly wasn't as wide as the primary training room – maybe only two thirds the width – but it was almost three times longer than the main training room and Lance was _ecstatic_. "Red, right now, you are my favourite Lion who I don't fly," he told her.

" _I'm pleased that you are so happy,"_ Red told him, unusually bashful as she did so and Lance didn't bother trying to stop himself from mentally wrapping her in a hug.

Despite wanting to, Lance's first move wasn't to call out for the first round of gladiators to start his training session. Instead, he headed for the control room, which sat on ground level rather than hanging from the ceiling like the one in the main training room did. Once in there, Lance sat at the control panel and opened up the programs this room offered. To his utter delight, he found it offered just about everything he could need. Programs with stationary targets, with moving gladiators that were either unarmed or armed with staffs or their own blasters (set to stun, obviously), with stationary targets _and_ moving targets together, with targets that acted as hostages and, best of all, Lance could have the room provide a sniper's hold, which it would generate in a random place that Lance would have to try and get to before he was 'killed'. This room was a long-range gun user's dream come true and Lance couldn't wait to get started with it.

"Seriously, Red, I owe you so much," Lance said as he ordered the operating system to run a check on itself. After 10,000 years off not being used, Lance just knew the system would be buggy as all hell and he'd rather not have to explain to Shiro why he decided not to do a system check before he used the programs and wound up in the cryopod again.

" _I'll remember that for the future,"_ Red promised him, her delight at his obvious through their bond.

"I cannot wait to start using these programs," Lance said, speaking out loud to himself but also to the Lions. "There are so many options here. I honestly have no idea where I'll even start!" he told them.

" _I believe it would be wise to start with your sniper rifle,"_ Black suggested. _"That's the form of your bayard that you haven't been able to use all that much outside of missions and this training room was made with long range weaponry in mind,"_ she rationalised.

"I think you're a very smart cookie, Black," Lance praised, getting a remarkably similar reaction from her that he did from Red. For some reason, making Black – the head of Voltron – blush like that always seemed like a well-accomplished mission.

A soft _ding_ from the systems had Lance look over and, not for the first time, Lance blessed how advanced Altean technology was. On Earth, he would've been waiting days for a system check this big to be completed instead of the couple of minutes it had actually taken. However, his elation with the technology was dampened when he saw all of the error messages. Because the program hadn't been used for centuries, so many minor bugs and viruses had been allowed to run rampant through the system, which created quite a few slightly larger problems.

"Guess these will have to be dealt with before I can use the programs," Lance muttered, sighing slightly to himself. "Green, how busy is everyone's favourite gremlin?" Lance asked.

" _She'll be pretty busy for the next few vargas,"_ Green told him apologetically.

"I figured," Lance said, making sure Green knew he wasn't mad in the slightest. "I think she put a few programs on my tablet for me that can help with sort of thing. She said they were programs she'd written to help with debugging the Castle's systems. We were all given them in case something happened to the Castle-Ship and she was out of commission for some reason," he explained. "If I grab my tablet, I might be able to run those programs and start dealing with this," he said, gesturing to the whole on the console.

" _I think that's a good idea,"_ Green said approvingly. _"You certainly couldn't worsen the situation,"_ she added, making Lance laugh.

"True," he said as he got out of the chair he had been sitting it. "I'm gonna hunt down my tablet and see how it goes," Lance told them as he left the control room and crossed the training room.

" _Let me know when you're back in there. I'll give you what help I can,"_ Green offered.

"Thank you, lovely. I will definitely take you up on that," Lance told her, grinning widely. His happiness at Green's offer and the discovery of the secondary training room likely wouldn't be leaving him for quite a while, he reckoned.

* * *

" _Lance, you know I admire your determination to complete this by yourself but I really think now would be a good time for you to ask Pidge for her help,"_ Green said, pleading slightly as she spoke with Blue's cub. It had been nearly a week since the discovery of the secondary training room and Lance had spent every spare moment he had in there trying to fix up the bugs and glitches in the system. The programming Pidge had uploaded to his tablet earlier in their Voltron adventure had helped quite a lot, just as Lance had hoped it would, but it hadn't fixed everything.

Lance sighed as he sat back on his heels, abandoning the wiring he'd been trying to fix. Green had been a godsend this last week and Lance had certainly taken her up on her offer of help nearly every time he entered the secondary training room. Though he had picked up a few things from Pidge when he'd spent time with her in her gremlin-cave or Green's hangar, it was nothing in comparison to what Green had seen Pidge do or had known herself and she had been amazingly patient in teaching Lance everything she could. Lance knew he wasn't the brightest person on the ship but Green had somehow been able to explain everything to Lance in a way he could understand.

"That might be a good idea," Lance admitted, scowling at himself. He'd really been hoping that he could do this by himself but it was pretty obvious that he just wasn't good enough to get this done. "Is Pidge busy now?" Lance asked as he got to his feet and headed out of the control room, leaving everything where it was.

" _No, she's actually resting in the common room you normally use,"_ Green told him. _"Don't downplay how much you managed to do during the time you've spent in that room either,"_ she chided him lightly and Lance felt his cheeks pinken.

" _This isn't your area of expertise and you've done so much with Green guiding you. You should be really proud of yourself, my cub,"_ Blue's warm voice said and Lance's cheeks darkened significantly, especially when the other three Lions made similar remarks.

"Thanks, guys," Lance said, his face feeling like it was burning as he entered the elevator closest to the secondary training room.

* * *

It didn't take him long to find the youngest Paladin once he was on the level they primarily lived on. She was exactly where Green said she was and Lance paused in his approach as he watched the Green Paladin. She was on her tablet – no real surprise there – but Lance couldn't figure out what she was doing on it. It wasn't until he was closer to her and saw the jewel-coloured icons on the screen that he realised what it was.

"Are you playing Candy Crush?!" Lance asked demandingly, scaring Pidge enough that she almost fell off the couch.

"Lance! What the hell!" she snarled as she tried to recover from the scare.

"I didn't realise you didn't hear me! It's not like I was being quiet!" Lance said in his defence.

Pidge glared at him as she settled back on the couch. "Next time, cough or something," she groused. "And no, it's not Candy Crush," Pidge told him. "It's the space equivalent of it that I found in the last space mall we shopped in," she said. Pidge glanced back up at Lance before she looked down at her tablet and continued playing her game. "Is there something you need?" she asked, eyes not coming off the tablet.

"Yeah, actually," Lance said, laughing slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Do you mind coming and helping me with something?" he asked.

Pidge didn't need Green in her mind, pointing out the nervousness in his tone for her to notice it. "What with?" she asked curiously even as she got up from the couch. Lance didn't ask for help a lot and she was really interested to know what had had him seek her out.

"Well, the thing is that about a week ago Red told me about this secondary training room," Lance told her as he led her out of the common room and into the elevator he'd only just come out of a couple minutes ago. "It was designed with long-range guns, or the Altean equivalent, in mind," he told her and she had to bite back the grin that threatened to show at his excitement.

"So you'll be able to train with your sniper rifle?" she asked and Lance nodded.

"Well I will be once I've gotten your help," Lance said with a small sigh. The elevator _dinged_ at that moment and opened its door to let them out. "I ran a system check on it so I wouldn't have to listen to Shiro lecture me about being reckless," Lance told her.

"Smart decision," Pidge said, nodding at his decision. No one liked being lectured by Shiro. It felt like being lectured by your disappointed dad.

Lance ruffled her hair before he placed his hand on the pad next to a seemingly random door, in Pidge's eyes. "Thanks, Pidgey," he said with a chuckle. He didn't get the chance to continue with his explanation because Pidge glanced into the room at that moment and gasped.

"Oh wow, I can see why this would be far more suitable for you than the main training room is," Pidge said as she took the room in. "So what do you need my help with?" she asked once she'd given the room the once over.

Lance nudged Pidge's shoulder and started walking towards the control room. "So the system check showed a lot of bugs and stuff in the coding, which I expected because Red said that no one else has used this training room since before we found Blue." Pidge nodded along with what he was saying. "So I decided to use those programs you put on my tablet to see if they would be enough to wipe out the bugs," Lance told her.

"Smart," she said as they entered the control room. "What did you do to the panelling?" she asked as she came to a stop and saw the organised chaos Lance had left.

"Well," Lance started nervously, "Green told me that you were working on a few projects and she offered to try and help me since we both thought that there wouldn't be that many things to fix," Lance told her. "We were a little optimistic but I've been working on everything Green could help me with for the last week when I could," he said. "I lost a few days there when we had those missions and I ended up on bed rest thanks to that concussion," Lance admitted. All five Lions had put their metaphorical feet down when Lance had tried to sneak into the training room to keep working on the fixes.

"Green's been helping you?" Pidge asked and Lance nodded.

"She's actually gotten a lot from you while you've been working in her hangar," Lance told her. "Plus, she somehow manages to translate it from your language down to mine really well," he said.

" _Stop selling yourself short, Lance,"_ Green said and Lance knew from the way Pidge reacted that Green was making sure Pidge could hear her too. _"You already had a very good base knowledge from things you'd picked up from my cub and all I needed to do was guide you,"_ she told him, refusing to let him try and downplay how clever he was.

"Okay so what do you need me for?" Pidge asked, glancing at the wiring that was showing and the coding that was running on Lance's tablet.

"We've hit a dead end," Lance admitted, shuffling on his feet slightly. "Green and I can't figure out how to fix the next bug on the list and I was hoping you may be able to help us with the last few," Lance said.

"Let me look at the bugs you've found," Pidge demanded. Lance didn't hesitate to point at his tablet and give her a silent 'go ahead'. Pidge grabbed his tablet from where it rested strategically on the console and started tapping away on it. Lance and the Lions waited patiently for the few minutes it took Pidge to go over the information she was looking at. "Okay, so a couple of these are pretty difficult bugs to work out but I should be able to get this all sorted in," she paused as she thought about it, "two days, providing we have no interruptions," she told him.

"Thanks, Pidgey," Lance said gratefully. "Nothing I did is making your job harder, right?" he asked, worriedly.

Pidge frowned at him, glancing up from his tablet. "No, what you and Green have done is actually really helpful. I'd have been working on this room for probably the same amount of time," she told him. "Why do you ask?"

"I just thought two days was a pretty long time for our resident coding queen," Lance said, his usual charming smirk in place but Pidge could see the underlying insecurities he was trying to keep hidden.

"Nah, most of that is because I have to restart the whole system each time I fix four of these bugs so my fixes will take effect," Pidge told him. "Plus I need to get in there and replace some of the corroded wires to fix some of the other bugs. That's probably why you and Green couldn't get any further without me," she told him. "Green might have my memories of fixing up the Castle-Ship's wiring but sometimes I pause in the middle of doing it to take care of another project so she might not have all of them, even if she was paying attention to what I was doing," Pidge said, shrugging a shoulder. "I'm actually really proud of how much you and Green managed to get sorted," she admitted honestly.

"Really?" Lance couldn't help but ask, his voice soft and unsure.

"Really," Pidge said with a nod. Though she was expecting it, she still yelped when Lance dragged her into a massive hug that rivalled Hunk's bear hugs. "Why are you like this?" she complained. She knew there was no way that Lance or Green missed how pleased she actually was with the affection.

"You wouldn't change me," Lance said and Pidge could _hear_ the grin in his voice.

"I absolutely wouldn't," Pidge told him. She felt his arms slacken around her, her seriousness and genuineness obviously surprising him before the hug was tightened once more. "You need to let me go if you want me to get started on this," Pidge told him after a few moments.

"You raise a good point," Lance said though he didn't let her go for a couple more seconds. "So, not that I don't completely trust you with all this since there is no one better at interpreting and correcting all those zeroes and ones than you but would it be okay if I helped you with it? Or have you explain what you're doing to me while you're working?" he asked. "If you think I'll be in the way or too annoying, just say so. I won't be offended," Lance told her before she could say anything.

"I don't mind, Lance," she said. "You've obviously already picked up a lot from what you've seen me do and it wouldn't be a silly idea to have someone else know about the coding, even if it's just the general stuff. Hunk is much more comfortable with the mechanical aspects than he is with computer code," Pidge told him.

"You're sure?" Lance asked, wanting to be certain he wouldn't be an annoyance.

Pidge rolled her eyes. "Of course I'm sure," she told him. "Now, get down here and let me show you what you needed to do to fix this bug," she said, waving him over to the panel he'd been kneeling in front of fifteen minutes ago.

"Alright," Lance said, grinning widely as he knelt next to her. "So what did I need to do?"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Pidge's chapter for you all! Thank you for the comments on Coran's chapter :D I'm so happy there are some of you who are excited for this story! I really hope you like this chapter and I would love to hear your thoughts on it :D Next week will be Hunk's so I'll see you then!


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Please note this chapter talks about phobias! Specifically around spiders, tight spaces, and insects. If any of those could possibly trigger you, proceed with caution!

Lance had been having a good day. They hadn't any training today since it was one of their scheduled days off where they only trained if they wanted to, which naturally meant both Keith and Shiro had been training earlier that day. Lance couldn't really judge them since he'd spent a couple of hours in the secondary training room he'd uncovered and turned into a gun range so he could practice with all forms of his weapon. However, unlike a certain Mullet he could but wouldn't name, Lance did know that he didn't have to spend all day, everyday training to see improvement. It may have taken him a little while into this whole Voltron adventure to learn that but he knew it now.

After he'd topped his own high score, Lance had decided to spend time with his favourite blue girl and give her an extra good bath to make up for the dust planet they'd visited. He didn't understand why there were so many dust planets in the universe since this was at least the sixth dust planet they'd visited and both Lance and Blue were over it. The dust always got into places on Blue that neither of them knew she had and she hated the idea of the dust being everywhere. She couldn't _feel_ the dust but it was the idea of it being on her that annoyed her. Lance didn't judge her for that since he understood that feeling all too well. He'd only just stopped feeling like he hadn't managed to get all the dust and dirt out of his hair.

"How do you feel now, _mi corazón_?" Lance asked as he scrubbed the last of her right back paw.

" _Much cleaner, my cub,"_ she purred in his mind. _"Thank you so much for indulging me,"_ she said, causing Lance to grin.

"You're the one who had to run multiple scans on yourself and me after that spider planet," Lance said, shuddering in memory of it. He had always been scared of spiders, ever since he was little, and to find themselves on a planet that not only had spiders the size of a beagle running around everywhere but to learn that they could camouflage into any surrounding _and_ were considered near sacred by the locals (meaning that any killing or maiming of the creatures would be met with hostility and would endanger their attempts to have the planet join the coalition, despite the fact that they had just spent several hours fighting off hundreds of Galrans) so they were allowed to roam everywhere. Lance had been so afraid of making a bad impression that he'd kept his helmet on as much as possible and volunteered to head back to the Castle-Ship to help Coran since the natives had said they wouldn't have enough rooms for all of them to stay in what counted as their main building. Only Hunk had known the real reason behind why he'd volunteered but everyone else had seemed to buy that he was just tired from the fight since Blue had copped quite a few hits during the fight with the Galran troops. "This was the _least_ I could do to repay you," he told her.

" _Those beasts were quite creepy to look at. I believe I would've run those scans numerous times without your requests just for my own peace of mind,"_ Blue told him, nearly knocking him aside when she shuddered at the memory of them. The fact that they were varying shades of blue and yellow when they weren't camouflaging hadn't endeared them to her in any way. _"I'm sure everyone else was quite unsettled by them as well,"_ she said, knowing full well that her pilot's main worry regarding that mission had been the judgement he thought he'd get from the team if they knew about his arachnophobia.

"I doubt it," Lance said with a small laugh as he dried her last toe to prevent streaks. "Nothing unsettles them. Especially Shiro, Mullet, and Allura," Lance said. "You're all clean now!" he announced, dropping his towel next to his cleaning supplies.

" _Thank you, Lance!"_ Blue exclaimed happily. _"I feel so much better!"_

"I'm glad," Lance said, beaming up at her. "I'm just going to pack my mess up. Do you want me to help you with anything else?" Lance asked as he started doing just as he said he would do.

" _No, my pilot,"_ Blue told him. _"I'm sure Yellow's cub would love to have you join him now to try out his new recipe,"_ she said, a slight smirk in his voice.

"I knew you guys were massive gossips," Lance accused teasingly, causing Blue to huff out some laughter in his mind, while he placed the cleaning supplies away. "However, you are absolutely right. Hunk has been wanting to try this recipe for ages," Lance said as he tipped the dirty water down the sink's drain. "If you're sure there's nothing I can help you out with, I'll head off and find him," he told her as he rubbed his hands dry on his jeans.

" _There's nothing more. I feel as though I'm brand new once again,"_ Blue told him. _"Go and have some fun with your friend,"_ she ordered.

"Yes, ma'am," Lance said, saluting Blue with the perfect military salute.

" _If I could swat you like I've seen Shiro do without hurting you, I would right now,"_ Blue told him, a playful growling tone in her voice.

"Feeling the love, gorgeous," Lance laughed. "I'll see you later, _mi amor_ ," Lance said, pairing it with cheery wave and matching grin as he headed out of her hangar.

" _I'll see you later, cub,"_ Blue purred in his mind just as the hangar bay door opened for Lance.

Lance gave her another wave just before the door shut behind him and he headed down the corridor, aiming for the elevator at the end of it so he could get up to the kitchen. "Can you tell Hunk I'm heading for the kitchen now?" Lance asked Yellow.

" _Of course, Blue's cub,"_ Yellow rumbled immediately. It took only until Lance had entered the elevator for him to get a reply. _"Hunk is eagerly awaiting your help in the kitchen,"_ Yellow informed him, amusement evident in her tone.

"Thank you, Yellow," Lance said as he waited for the elevator to take him up to the level he'd asked for. "How'd Hunk go with cleaning you after the dust planet?" he asked curiously.

" _He did well. I don't feel as though there's dust threatening to clog any of my machinery,"_ Yellow told him happily. _"Your tips from the last dust planet really helped him,"_ she said.

"Aww, I'm glad I could help!" Lance said, trying to pretend he wasn't blushing from the warmth he felt from Yellow. "Can you tell Hunk that I'm gonna stop by my room first though? I don't particularly want to do any cooking in a half-drenched shirt," Lance explained as he pulled the soaked part of the t-shirt away from his body only for it to immediately stick back to him when he let go of it.

" _Hunk says that he'll get the ingredients ready while he waits for you,"_ Yellow dutifully passed along.

"Thanks, Yellow," Lance said as he left the elevator once the doors had opened. He felt Yellow's purrs as he walked down the corridor before he turned down the one that had the Paladins bedrooms on it. Opening his door, Lance headed straight for his wardrobe and grabbed the first clean shirt he found. "Where the hell is my jacket?" he asked himself as he frowned at the closet, as though it might answer him.

" _Have you checked your bathroom, cub?"_ Blue asked. _"You told me this morning that you'd spilled some juice on it,"_ she reminded him.

"Oh, that's right!" Lance exclaimed as he headed for his bathroom, pulling off his wet shirt as he did so. "I washed the juice out and left it in here to dry. Thanks, _Princesa,"_ Lance said, placing his hand on the pad to open his bathroom door. Once it was open, he threw his wet shirt in the laundry chute before he pulled on his clean one.

" _You're welcome, my pilot,"_ Blue purred, pleased with the nickname.

Lance grinned at her happiness as he snatched up his jacket from where he'd draped it over his bathtub's rim. He inspected it but saw no signs of a new stain and it was completely dry so he pulled it on, relishing in the familiar feel and weight. Pulling on the jacket's collar to make sure it sat on him properly, Lance glanced at the mirror to check he hadn't managed to get something on his face while he was cleaning Blue. Pleased he hadn't, Lance spent a moment fixing his hair slightly from where it had been messed up by pulling his shirt off and putting the new one on. As he was doing so, he saw something move out of the corner of his eye. Glancing into his bedroom with a frown, Lance felt his stomach leap into his throat when his eyes fell on the beagle-sized, blue and yellow spider that was sitting in the middle of his bedroom.

Slamming his hand on the pad for his bathroom door, Lance closed his bathroom off and kept his hand on the pad until it turned red, signalling it was locked. "Yellow, I need Hunk!" he cried, tears falling down his cheeks as he felt his panic building. He'd been able to hold his fear back on the planet the spider belonged to but only until he and Blue were back in the Castle-Ship and he had some privacy.

" _He's coming, Blue's cub,"_ Yellow said soothingly. _"I told him what happened and he's racing towards you as we speak,"_ she assured him as he fought to keep the panic attack at bay.

" _You're alright, cub,"_ Blue said, her voice calm and assuring as she tried her best to help Lance settle down. _"You have my power at your call if you need it. I doubt that horrid creature could withstand being frozen. Your_ hermano _is on his way to get rid of it. You're not alone and you don't have to deal with it by yourself,"_ she reminded him.

"How the hell did it get in my room?!" Lance asked, his tone bordering on hysterical as he tried to calm himself down. He was trembling where he stood, backed as far away from his door as he could while keeping it in his sight, the irrational fear that the spider may be able to somehow open the door or squeeze itself through the non-existent gaps between the door and the floor/walls/ceiling it was attached to. "How the hell did it get on the ship in the first place?!" he asked as fresh tears rolled down his cheeks.

" _I don't know, cub, but it'll be gone soon,"_ Blue promised. _"I'll personally destroy it so it can't come near you again,"_ she promised him, her voice full of protective vengeance.

Lance let out a wet chuckle as he rubbed his face clean of tears, embarrassment flaring in him as he did so. "I don't think Allura would be happy if you put a hole in the Castle-Ship because of something this stupid," Lance joked weakly. Despite his best attempts, his tears weren't stopping and he felt himself growing angry at himself. He'd been in space for months and this was the first time he'd actually come face-to-face with a spider in that time and _this_ was how he reacted! Some defender of the universe he was.

" _Stop that,"_ Blue growled in his mind. _"You cannot help your reaction to having something you fear most suddenly appear in a place that should be safe for you. This doesn't make you any less brave or suddenly unworthy of being a Paladin, of being_ my pilot _,"_ she told him sternly.

" _Blue is right,"_ Black said, her voice warm but firm. _"Lance, this doesn't make us see you as anything lesser in our eyes. You're still the same kind, brave, amazing Paladin you always have been,"_ Black assured him, causing a fresh wave of tears to course down his cheeks.

Before Lance could say anything, he heard his bedroom door swoosh open and multiple footsteps enter the room, which told Lance that Hunk wasn't by himself and made his shame increase ten-fold. "Lance! Where are you, _hermano_?" Hunk called before a shrill shriek stopped Lance from replying.

"What was that?!" Lance asked, his heart pounding in his chest. Had Hunk gotten hurt because of him?

"That was Pidge," Hunk told him. "Turns out you aren't the only one who can't handle spiders," Hunk said, a slight chuckle in his voice. "Are you in the bathroom?" he asked and Lance felt a flush of shame crawl up his cheeks.

"Yeah," he admitted, preparing himself to hear either teasing comments or requests for him to come out and help them.

"Stay there," Hunk ordered, making Lance pause mid-step. "The spider's still in here and we can't find it because it's camouflaging. Coran's gone to find portable scanners for all of us so we can go over your room and make sure we find it," Hunk told him.

"I am _not_ stepping foot in there!" came the shrill response from Pidge. "I love you Lance but that's not fucking happening!"

"Language!" Shiro exclaimed.

"Get fucked!" Pidge snapped and Lance heard more than his own chuckle sound. "Let me know when that fucking demon is gone! I'm gonna go wait in Green and see if I can access the Castle's scanners from her so I can make sure there aren't any more of those fuckers running around here," she told them. "Lance, I'll have Green tell you if I find anything," she said.

"Thanks, Pidgey," Lance said, his voice wobbling slightly as his emotions threatened to spill over again. He'd expected some teasing remarks from Pidge, maybe even some barbed ones. He didn't expect her to be just as scared of spiders as he was nor did he expect her to help him like that.

Lance could faintly hear someone small and light sprinting down the hall and chuckled to himself as he imagined Pidge fleeing the room. The initial panic and fear at seeing the spider was fading now that he was away from it and he knew there was someone out there trying to help him by getting rid of it. "How are you holding up, buddy?" Hunk asked and Lance jolted. It sounded like Hunk was right outside the door.

"I'm okay now," Lance told him. "Who else is out there?" he asked.

"Well, everyone," Hunk said, "except Pidge and Coran, though he should be back soon with the scanners," Hunk repeated himself. "I might have accidentally scared them when they saw me running from the kitchen when Yellow told me what happened," he said with a sheepish chuckle.

"That's underselling it," came Shiro's voice. "He nearly gave us a heart attack and his only explanation was that you were in danger," Shiro explained and Lance's cheeks lit back up in embarrassment.

"I'm sor-" Lance started to apologise but Shiro cut him off.

"Are you alright?" Shiro asked, his voice genuinely concerned.

"Yeah," Lance said, shifting from foot to foot nervously. "I'm sorry for causing you all to panic over something as stupid as this," Lance said, managing to finish his apology from earlier.

"You don't have to be –" Shiro and Hunk both started saying when a new voice unintentionally interrupted them.

"I have the scanners!" Coran announced. Lance squinted slightly as he tried to figure out if he was just imaging the undercurrent of nervousness in the orange-haired alien's voice or not. "If everyone could take one, I'll explain how to use it," Coran said.

Lance heard two sets of soft footsteps heading away from him and the door. Though he tried to listen to Coran's explaining the scanners, the Altean's voice wasn't loud enough for him to hear since there was no one near him who needed the explanation. "It shouldn't take us long to find and capture it," Hunk told Lance through the door.

"I have an extra strong box to put the blighter in! We'll just have to figure out how to deal with it from there," Coran said jovially.

An echoing roar sounded below them and Lance chuckled slightly. "Blue's already offered to kill it," he told them. "She's not happy with it scaring me," he admitted, a little self-consciously. As much as he loved Blue and was secretly pleased with how protective she was of him, it was little embarrassing for her to show it so obviously in front of everyone.

"Just when I thought I couldn't be any more surprised by how deep your bond with Blue goes," Allura said and Lance could just imagine her shaking her head. "It truly is wonderful seeing evidence of how strongly bonded the two of you are," she told him and Lance – not for the first time in the last few minutes – found himself exceptionally glad they couldn't see how red his face was.

"I found it!" Keith's voice exclaimed. "Where's that box, Coran?"

"It's here, Number 4!" Coran said and Lance heard something heavy thumping on the ground. "I'll get it open and you chase the blasted thing inside!" Coran ordered.

"Shit! Shiro, it's heading towards you!" Keith swore. Lance almost felt faint when he realised the rapid footsteps he could here were the spider trying to escape. He may not like spiders but he'd just realised he hated being able to hear spiders walking or running even more.

"On your left, Allura!" Hunk shouted just before a loud thump could be heard. "It's on the wall!"

"Can we just stab it?" Keith asked, his voice slightly frustrated.

"No, we can't kill it. We have to take it back home. It could solidify our relationship with the Shehans if we returned one of their Shifers to them," Allura snapped just before she let out something that could only have been an Altean curse word. "Coran, it's right next you! See if you can knock it down!" Allura ordered.

There was a shriek on par with Pidge's earlier ones before Hunk sighed. "Coran, get off the box. We need to be able to move it!" Hunk said.

"My apologies, Number 2. I don't know what overcame me and made me get up on the box," Coran said, sounding thoroughly perplexed.

"I would've gotten on the box too if that bastard came running towards me," Hunk assured him and Lance had to hold in a giggle at the mental image of Coran leaping on top of the box and looking confused about it. "Quick, Keith, block it!" Hunk suddenly ordered.

"Right, Hunk, get behind it," Shiro said, taking over the ordering. "Allura, you need to go and help Hunk. Coran, get that box open and get ready to shut it. On three, we're all gonna herd it into the box," Shiro instructed. "1, 2, 3!"

There were plenty of scuffling movements and more than a few swear words (Lance just _knew_ Shiro had said a couple of them and he planned to tell Pidge the moment he could) before a loud slam and victorious shouting could be heard. Lance could feel the pride from Yellow, Red, and Black at their Paladin's victory while both Green and Blue pressed up against Lance in their version of a mental hug, relieved that their pilot would no longer have to face one of the Shifers again, so long as Pidge's scans of the ship revealed no more stowaways.

A knock on his bathroom door broke Lance out of his thought. "Lance, it's gone. Allura and Coran have taken it out of your room and I think Allura's going to contact the Shehans to see whether we can return it to them today," Hunk told him. "Coran said he's gonna house it in one of the unused storage rooms close to the main hangar bay and he'll make sure both you and Pidge know which one it is," Hunk continued saying. "It's safe to come out now," he told Lance softly.

Taking a deep breath, even though he knew Hunk would never lie to him about this sort of thing, Lance placed his hand against the pad to unlock his door and have it open up. Hunk was right there in front of the door and had swept him into a tight, warm hug before Lance could say anything. Lance barely had the time to see Shiro and Keith standing a little awkwardly in his room before Hunk had grabbed him. _"Gracias por salvarme, hermano,"_ Lance whispered, wrapping his arms around Hunk's neck, and hugging him just as tightly as he could imagine.

"You don't have to thank me, Lance," Hunk told him, squeezing him a little tighter. "Besides, it was a group effort," he said and Lance knew that was a subtle cue for him.

"Thanks for helping Hunk get rid of that thing," Lance said to Shiro and Keith once he'd unravelled himself from Hunk's grip. "I'm sorry fo-" Hunk's hand was suddenly over his mouth, cutting off what he was saying.

"Quit apologising," Hunk chided gently. "You have no reason to apologise for what happened. It wasn't your fault," he said sternly.

"Hunk's right," Shiro said while Keith nodded in agreement. "You have nothing to apologise for. You can't help how you react when you're faced with something you're scared of," Shiro said gently.

Rapid footsteps could be heard along their bedroom corridor and before anyone could question what was happening, Pidge appeared, a decked-out scanner of her own in her hands. "Lance! Green said that demon beast has been captured and is being locked away somewhere. Are you okay?" she asked even as she wrapped her wiry arms around Lance's middle and tried to squeeze all the breath out of him.

Hunk was kind enough to remove his hand before Lance was forced to lick it. "I'm alright, Pidgey. Are you?" he asked, pushing her back by her shoulders so he could check on her.

"I'm fine," she told him, rolling her eyes fondly. "I wasn't the one who had that monster in their room," she pointed out.

"I thought you were staying in Green until the Castle-Ship had been thoroughly scanned?" Shiro asked the Green Paladin.

Pidge held up her device, making it obvious she thought it should've been answer enough. "This is set up to run scans of everything twenty metres in front of me _and_ it'll alert me if something matching that thing's description comes into its range," she told him.

"You really don't like spiders, do you?" Keith asked, looking a little stunned at the information and maybe a little amused at the measures Pidge had taken to ensure no Shifers or anything else vaguely spider-like came near her.

"Spiders are my proof that God doesn't exist," Pidge informed him firmly.

"Okay," Shiro said, a touch slowly, making it obvious he had no idea what to say back to that. "How about we go to the kitchen and relax? I think we could all do with a warm drink after this," he suggested.

"It's just too bad the only alcohol on this ship in Nunvill," Lance muttered, earning himself a very disapproving look from Shiro that was also aimed at Pidge when he noticed the youngest Paladin nodding in agreement with Lance's statement, "but some space hot chocolate would be awesome right now," Lance admitted.

"Let's get some space hot chocolate into you then!" Hunk said, pushing Lance and – since she was still attached to Lance – Pidge towards Lance's bedroom door. "Pidge gets to go first since she has the scanner," Hunk declared, causing the youngest Paladin to whine.

"Fine but I expect someone to come to my aid if one of those things comes at us!" she told them.

"Of course," Shiro said seriously. His words had the intended effect and Lance had to make sure his wide grin at Pidge's determined expression and the way she held the scanner out in front of her like a shield didn't show.

* * *

"Thanks, Hunk," Lance said as he accepted the space hot chocolate from his best friend. "Do you want to start your recipe now?" he asked, taking a sip of the hot drink in front of him.

"No, it can wait a little while," Hunk assured him. "You just enjoy your drink," he instructed, laughing when Lance saluted him.

"Lance, can I ask you something?" Keith queried, interrupting the two of them. Shiro looked like he was a mix of proud that Keith had asked and wanting to facepalm because he had a good idea on what Keith wanted to ask. Lance was a little surprised that Pidge looked like she was one bad word from Keith away from stabbing him on Lance's behalf.

"Sure," Lance said, not bothering to hide his apprehension.

"That shifer obviously really freaked you out and I'm not judging you," Keith was quick to say, wanting to make sure no one thought he was, "but I was curious about how you managed to stay so calm on the Shehans planet?" he asked, looking a little relieved when Pidge relaxed and Lance let out a small sigh as he also relaxed.

"Blue helped me," Lance revealed. "She let me channel some of her power so that the space around me was a few degrees cooler than the planet's atmosphere so the shifers stayed away from me while we were speaking to the head Shehan then I escaped the first chance I had," Lance told him. "I am sorry you had to stay there, Pidge," Lance said, apologising directly to the younger Paladin.

"Don't worry about it. I kept my bayard out and stayed up all night. Any time one of those fuckers came near me, I made my bayard spark and they scuttled off. After a while, none of them tried to enter my room," Pidge told him. Shiro looked like he wanted to scold her for swearing but had apparently decided this wasn't a hill he was prepared to die on right now and left it.

"I don't want to sound insensitive," Shiro said, looking apologetically at Lance, "but I need to know how bad this phobia is for you. For both you and Pidge, actually," he said, giving Pidge a look.

"Is there some more hot chocolate?" All of the Paladins turned to find Allura and Coran strolling into the kitchen.

"Yeah, there's some leftover. Coran?" Hunk asked, holding up a cup but he got waved off by the orange haired Altean. He was quick to pour Allura a cup, adding a single sphere of space sugar and handed the cup to the princess.

"Thank you, Hunk," Allura said warmly as she accepted the cup. "What were we talking about?" she asked, looking at the room curiously.

"Our phobias," Shiro said, surprising Lance because unless he'd missed something, they'd been about to talk about his and Pidge's shared phobia, not all of theirs. "Did you manage to contact Shehania?" he asked and Allura nodded.

"Yes, they have apologised to us for not realising one of their shifers had managed to board a Lion and would very muchly appreciate it if we could return it to them," Allura told them, looking nearly alarmed when Lance and Pidge almost melted in their seats.

" _Gracias a Dios,"_ Lance mumbled.

"I can't wait for that thing to be off this ship," Pidge said, looking ecstatic at the very idea. "When is it leaving?" she asked.

"I would like one of you to volunteer to take it back in your Lion sometime this evening. I'll wormhole you to Shehania so you're only gone for a few dobashes and you and your Lion will need to do scans on planet to make sure we have no more stowaways," Allura said.

"I'll take it," Shiro volunteered immediately.

"Thank you, Shiro," Allura said, giving him a small smile before she addressed the group as a whole once more. "So what are phobias and why were you talking about them?" she asked.

"Well, a phobia is the fear of a particular thing that someone suffers," Hunk said. "Both Pidge and Lance suffer from arachnophobia, which is the fear of spiders or spider-like creatures," he explained. Neither Pidge nor Lance looked overly happy that they were being used as examples but they didn't say anything about it.

Allura frowned. "So is a phobia something humans are born with?" she asked.

Shiro shook his head. "No," he told her. "Normally, a human develops a phobia due to a traumatic event, typically when they are younger but it is common for an adult to develop a phobia of their own," he explained.

"So why are we talking about them now?" Coran asked curiously.

"Well, phobias can cause a variety of reactions from someone," Shiro explained. "Lance panicked and he needed someone to remove the shifer from his room. You all saw how Pidge reacted when she saw it," Shiro said. "Some people can deal with their phobia themselves and for some people, their phobia can induce a panic attack or worse. I think it would be a good idea for all of us to know each other's worst phobias so we can try and make sure someone doesn't find themselves in Lance's position today," Shiro explained.

"Oh, I think that's a very good idea," Allura declared. "I don't think I quite understand this 'phobia' thing yet so would one of you mind explaining yours first?" she asked.

Pidge sighed before anyone else could say anything. "I developed arachnophobia when I was about four," she told them. "I was on a family friend's farm and I was helping them feed their chickens. While I was collecting the eggs, a spider the size of my chest crawled onto me. I freaked out and the family friend I was with had to grab hold of my arm tightly so they could swipe the spider off me," Pidge told them. "I know now that the spider wasn't that big and that the friend had been trying to help so I didn't end up bitten by it since they didn't know if it was venomous or not but as a four-year-old, that spider was nearly as big as me and a friend was hurting me because of it. My mind likely blew up a few of the details but ever since then I haven't been able to handle having spiders near me," she explained.

"We noticed you couldn't when you climbed Shiro the moment you saw the shifer," Hunk teased. Pidge's face flamed a violent red while Lance cackled.

"Shut it!" she snapped, punching Hunk hard enough in the arm that he yelped and looked mildly afraid of her.

"No fighting," Shiro sighed.

"I'm so sorry that happened to you, Pidge," Allura said, looking terribly sad that Pidge had gone through that. "I think I understand a bit more about your phobias now and I believe I suffered one when I was younger," she revealed. Coran was the only one who didn't look surprised to hear that. "There was a flower on Altea, one that looked like a juniberry but wasn't," Allura explained. "This flower didn't have a special purpose. Its perfume wasn't overly fragrant and its petals weren't suitable to being ground up for dye however, unbeknownst to me, its pollen was really attractive to an insect on Altea known as a minju," she told them. "The minju was an extremely venomous insect, even to Alteans, and they were very unforgiving. They were known to hunt someone who disturbed them down, no matter where they went until that person was out of the minju's territory," Allura told them.

"They sound like our wasps or maybe hornets," Hunk mused. "I take it you learned about the minju the hard way?" he asked and Allura nodded.

"Indeed," Allura confirmed. "I was stung over a dozen times when I tried to pick the flower and disturbed the minju who was in it. I ended up in the hospital ward for three quintets and on bed rest for another seven before I recovered from the attack. It took my father over six phoebes to talk me into leaving the Castle's walls to enjoy a walk around the royal garden. It was another four before my father managed to talk me into going on an excursion to the juniberry fields once more," Allura told them. "However, I never lost the nervousness of being in the juniberry field completely, even when my father had some soldiers go into the field before us and check for the minjus."

"That does sound like a phobia to me," Shiro said. "I was lucky enough to never develop a phobia while I was on Earth, however I've always hated tight spaces," Shiro revealed. "Elevators don't worry me but I couldn't handle being anywhere I couldn't turn around comfortably," he told them. "I would say that it's developed into a phobia now though. I'm not sure why but I'm assuming something happened while I was a prisoner to worsen that fear," he said.

"Is there something we can do to help?" Allura asked but Shiro shook his head.

"No, fortunately there's nowhere on the Castle-Ship that is that small so I don't have to worry about it so much," Shiro told her. "I only realised how bad it was when we had to crawl around those tunnels a couple of phoebes back," he said.

"You should've told us," Allura said, not sounding happy with Shiro.

"You really should've," Lance said with a frown. Shiro gave him a disbelieving look and he scowled defensively. "I didn't think there were going to be spiders out here in space! Tight spaces are a thing everywhere!" he pointed out.

Shiro had to admit Lance had a point. "You're right," he conceded. "I should have made you all aware of it but that's part of why we're having this talk now, right?" Shiro asked and everyone nodded, though Allura and Lance still didn't look happy with him.

"Well, you guys already know about mine," Hunk said casually. "I hated flying and I'm scared of blood but Yellow and Lance really helped with the first one and Lance is helping me a lot with the second one," Hunk said, smiling widely when Lance's face flushed.

"You didn't need my help, _hermano_ ," Lance told him. "You would've gotten there by yourself or with Yellow," he said.

"Nonsense," Hunk informed him, his tone telling him that arguing would be pointless.

"I'm afraid I don't have any regaling tales for you!" Coran said, looking thoroughly put out that he wouldn't be able to tell them about his phobias. "Although that shifer certainly got my heart racing when it ran towards me, I can tell you!" he said, nudging Lance lightly.

"I don't think I have any phobias either," Keith admitted. "I can't think of anything that might make me react like that," he said, grimacing at his word choice. "I can't say that I want to walk into my room and find a shifer in there but I think you'd have to be insane to want that," he admitted.

"I guess it's my turn, huh?" Lance said, half laughing but not a single person or Altean missed the way his smile wavered or his voice shook.

"Lance, man, you don't have to," Hunk said. "It's not like we don't already know what your phobia is," he said gently.

"No, you guys all shared so I should or else it's not fair," Lance said firmly. Hunk knew there was no point in arguing with him so he backed down, though his worry didn't disappear from his face. It took Lance a few moments before he was able to start talking. "So I think I was four or five," Lance said, "and we still lived in Cuba. It was a warm summer and we'd been mucking around on the beach for most of the day. All of us were tired so _Mamá and Papá_ had no problem getting us kids to bed that night," Lance said with a small chuckle. "My littlest sister was only a month old at this point so my parents were pretty tired all the time so I think they were just relieved we'd gone to bed with no fussing," he told them. "Anyway, I was in a pretty deep sleep when the feeling of something brushing against me woke me up," he said, his face going slightly pale but he didn't let anyone try and stop him. "I turned on my lamp and I was _covered_ in spiders," he revealed, shuddering slightly at the memory. The four other humans looked varying degrees of sympathetic and skeeved out. "These spiders were babies so they weren't any bigger than a penny," Lance explained, showing the rough size of a penny so Allura and Coran had an idea, "but they were all over me and my bed," he told them.

"I freaked out and started screaming the house down," Lance said. "Veronica was the first into my room since she slept next door and when she saw the spiders, she started freaking out. Luis at least tried to help me by trying to swipe the spiders off me but there were so many and they started swarming onto him. My _papá_ ended up dragging both of us outside and spraying us down with the hose but it wasn't working as well as he'd hoped because his next step was to take us to the beach and had us strip then go swimming," he told them. "While _Papá_ was dealing with me and Luis, _Mamá_ was using every can of fly spray we had to try and fumigate my room. That's actually when I learned that most spiders don't like peppermint because when we ran out of fly spray, _Mamá_ used peppermint oil and peppermint essence to basically chase the spiders from my room," Lance told them.

"Is that why you sometimes sprayed peppermint in yours and Hunk's room back at the Garrison?" Pidge asked and Lance nodded. "I am so going to buy all of the damned peppermint I can find and I'm bathing in it every day when we're back on Earth," Pidge vowed.

Lance laughed a little at that. "I'll join you in doing that," Lance said, eyes twinkling with amusement before he sighed. "But yeah, that's why I can't handle spiders. I couldn't sleep in my own room for months in Cuba. My parents let me sleep with them for a bit and Veronica and Luis let me sleep in their beds and it really wasn't until we'd moved in with my _abuela_ since her health wasn't all that good and her home was bigger that I was able to start sleeping in my own room again, though it likely helped that I shared my new room with Luis," Lance said. "Usually I don't react so badly to spiders since my family and Hunk were pretty good at spotting them before I did and getting rid of them but like I said to Shiro, I wasn't expecting to see one in my room in the middle of _space_ , especially not one as big as a medium-sized dog!" he exclaimed.

"I think that's a completely understandable assumption to make, my boy!" Coran said, clapping Lance on the shoulder lightly.

"I don't think anyone expected anything like spiders or anything like that while we were in space," Shiro said. "And I am terribly sorry you had to go through something like that, Lance. That sounds horrific," Shiro said sympathetically.

"It certainly wasn't pleasant," Lance said, shrugging a shoulder as he tried to downplay how much retelling and reliving the memory had affected him.

"Well, we'll have your back if this happens again," Hunk said. "You can always count on me to come and take on any spider or shifer or anything other eight-legged creature that comes near you," Hunk told him.

"Thanks, _hermano_ ," Lance said, tearing up slightly. "Thanks for coming when Yellow told you what happened. I'm sorry you had to do so instead of experimenting. I know how much you were looking forward to that," Lance apologised.

"Don't even worry about it, bro," Hunk said. "You know I will always come and help you with a spider and I couldn't have done any experimenting without my best taste-tester there to help me," Hunk told him, grinning at him and Lance couldn't not grin back.

"And we'll help you as well, if for some reason Hunk isn't here or he can't help," Shiro told him. "You and Pidge," he said, nodding to the youngest Paladin.

"I appreciate it, guys," Lance said quietly. He was amazed that none of them were making fun of him for his phobia. Aside from his family and Hunk, the only people who didn't were those like Pidge and suffered from their own arachnophobia.

"And we will help any way we can," Allura promised while Coran nodded next to her.

"We can start by preparing the Castle-Ship," Coran announced. "We didn't have anything like your spiders or the Shehans' shifers on Altea so we'd never developed the Castle's scanners to pick them up," Coran told them. "I'll need to borrow you, Number Five, to help me expand the Castle-Ship's scanners so they can pick up on anything similar to those creatures," Coran said.

"I will honestly do anything I can to help you fortify the Castle-Ship against anything that remotely looks like a spider," Pidge told him seriously. "Do we have anything like peppermint in the kitchens?" Pidge asked Hunk.

"Uh, no," Hunk said, looking a little worried that Pidge might attack him for saying so.

Pidge certainly didn't look happy. "Why do you want peppermint?" Allura asked. "Are you planning on using it on your room?"

"No I was thinking of adding it to the large shower systems for the Lions," Pidge told her seriously. "If we wash them down in the peppermint water, any spiders or anything like a spider will probably fall off then the Lions can just shoot them or stomp on them," Pidge said, looking pleased with her idea.

Allura looked a little worried about Pidge. "We can look into it," she told the youngest Paladin, who looked mollified by her answer. "I don't want any of you to feel as though these phobias are something you should ever be ashamed of," Allura said seriously, addressing the group as a whole again. "Though a couple of us here don't have one, these phobias do present as possible problems in future missions and we honestly should've had this talk phoebes ago," Allura said, sounding rather disappointed in herself.

"It's not your fault, Allura," Lance said immediately. "You didn't even know what phobias were!"

Allura smiled at him. "I appreciate that, Lance, but I'm sure that if I and Coran had possibly joined in on your team bonding sessions or your relaxation times, we may have found this out earlier," Allura said. "However, as I was saying, please do not hesitate to speak with me if something like this presents itself again. I am sure you understand that I can't always keep you off missions because of something that isn't technically life-threatening however I will do my best to make sure that none of you have to suffer through this sort of thing again," Allura said, glancing at Lance.

"Thank you, Allura," Shiro said. "We understand that you won't always be able to protect us from our phobias but we can maybe work on a way to try and mitigate the reactions," Shiro suggested.

Allura and the others nodded. "We certainly can," Allura said before she clapped her hands and smiled at Hunk. "Now, you and Lance were about to try some experimenting before the shifer was found, yes?" Allura asked and Hunk and Lance nodded. "Wonderful! Can you explain what the two of you were going to try and create? I'd love to learn more about your cooking!"

Lance grinned at the exuberance on Allura's face before he shared a look with Allura. "Do you guys wanna turn it into a bonding mission?" Lance asked, a little hesitantly as his insecurity made itself know again. "We can try making something from whatever Hunk's got in the kitchen?" he suggested.

"That's a marvellous idea, Lance!" Allura exclaimed delightedly, almost jumping up and down where she was standing.

"I think it's a great idea," Shiro said, giving Lance a proud smile. "Uh, just be warned, I am pretty hopeless in the kitchen," he admitted, chuckling slightly.

"Hunk can look after you," Lance said immediately.

"I'll do my best," Hunk said seriously. "Everyone should know a few tricks so they're able to function in the kitchen," he informed Shiro. To the Black Paladin's credit, he didn't look intimidated but rather eager for the lessons. "Okay, so Lance and I were going to try and recreate meatballs and spaghetti but the challenge is that we don't have anything that's like spaghetti so we're going to have to make it and since I've never made any sort of space pasta, we get to figure out how to do so from what we have in the pantry so that's the mission for today," Hunk told them. "Is everyone ready?" Hunk asked. He almost laughed when everyone gave him a nod that was nearly as serious as they were when Allura or Shiro were issuing orders. "Awesome. Here's what we need to do. Firstly…"

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> A/N - And here's Hunk's chapter for all of you to enjoy! I hope everyone had an amazing holiday and Christmas (if you celebrate it)! Fun fact! What I wrote for Pidge's phobia happened to me when I was around the age I had her at and I'm now a severe arachnophobe! It's an especially fun phobia to have when you live in Australia (not). The chickens we owned at the time killed and ate the spider and are the reason I insisted on having chickens at every house we lived at from that point onwards XD Anyways, thank you so much to those of you who reviewed the last chapter and I really hope you guys love this chapter! Translations of what the Spanish used in this story is below and please keep in mind that I do not speak Spanish and therefore relied heavily on google translate so if any of them are wrong, please feel free to correct me and I'll edit the chapter :) See you next week!
> 
> mi corazón = my heart
> 
> mi amor = my love
> 
> Princesa = princess
> 
> hermano = brother
> 
> Gracias por salvarme, hermano = thank you for saving me, brother
> 
> Gracias a Dios = thank God


	4. Chapter 4

"Can't the Galran take a fricking break already?" came Lance's whine through the comms and Keith resisted the urge to snap at him. He couldn't blame the Blue Paladin for his complaining though but Keith didn't want to verbally agree with Lance since their orders had been to keep the comms silent unless necessary. "This is like the tenth base we've been to this week to make sure it's clear of Galra and steal information from," came the added bit of whining. Again, Keith found himself biting his tongue so he didn't reply. He did hear two distinct murmurs of agreement and knew that Hunk and Pidge been the ones to make them without even asking.

"Chatter," Shiro said through the comms and Keith allowed a small smile to show on his face for a moment when he heard Lance's displeased Spanish mutterings. He just knew Shiro wanted to ask Lance to repeat that in English but wouldn't since it would mean he'd be ignoring his own orders about keeping the comms clear of chatter.

"We're nearly at the command centre," Pidge told them quietly. "With the new program I wrote up for hacking and gathering information from the Galran systems, it shouldn't take me more than five minutes to get everything," she said.

"Good job, Pidgey," Lance said warmly.

" _Paladins, you have incoming."_ Allura's tense warning came before Pidge could make any sort of reply to Lance.

"'Incoming'? I thought this base was abandoned?" Lance asked, his voice a mix of confusion and worry.

" _So did we. All of our intel suggested the Galrans had abandoned this base two quintents ago. I have no idea why there's a Galran ship heading your way but there is and at this rate, they'll be there within two dobashes,"_ Allura told them.

"Allura, keep an eye on it. Let us know if the Galrans stay on the one level or if they split up. We'll stick together for now until we know," Shiro instructed, feeling satisfied when he got five agreeable responses back.

"That's the command centre," Pidge told them only a few moments later, gesturing to the large doors a few metres ahead and to the left of them.

"Hunk, go in the command centre with Pidge so you can provide cover if she needs it," Shiro instructed and both Pidge and Hunk disappeared inside with nothing more than a confirming hum. "The rest of us will stay out here until we have further information," he said. Both Keith and Lance gave him a nod.

While Shiro didn't activate his arm, Keith and Lance both activated their bayards so they wouldn't be taken by surprise. Lance moved a few feet away from the two other Paladins and knelt down, placing himself behind a metal support strut that would give him decent cover from returning fire without preventing him from using his rifle. Both Keith and Shiro stayed where they were though Keith did move so he was able to see both ends of the corridor they were in to prevent anyone sneaking up on them.

" _The Galran have landed above the Green Lion but I can't be sure if their sensors picked her up or not while she's cloaked however they are splitting up so I assume they know you're there,"_ Allura told them. _"From what our sensors are picking up, they're taking the level you're on, the one above and the one below. We have no idea what they're searching for but they're not bothering with any of the other floors for the moment,"_ she told them, a touch of frustration in her voice.

"Alright, Keith stays here," Shiro said. "Lance, you go down a floor and I'll take the one above. Stay in radio contact and report on everything the Galra are doing. Try not to engage unless you have to," Shiro ordered.

Both Lance and Shiro headed forwards with Lance in the lead to check the path and clear it if necessary. Pausing at every junction, Lance peeked out with his rifle raised and ready to fire only to give Shiro the all-clear. Finally they made it to a staircase where they would be splitting up but Shiro didn't leave Lance's side until the Blue Paladin had cleared the staircase above them. "You're all clear as far as I can see, Shiro," Lance told him.

"Thanks, Lance. Stay safe," Shiro ordered and Lance gave him a nod.

"You as well," Lance said. "Not sure Black would be too happy with any of us, you especially, if you got yourself injured," he joked.

A rumbling growl immediately sounded in both their heads and Shiro gave a small chuckle. "I think you're right," Shiro said before he turned serious once more. "Stay sharp, Lance," he said, unable to shake this feeling that something was going to happen. It was strong enough that Shiro momentarily considered switching the floors they were to clear.

"I am the sharpshooter, Shiro. Staying sharp is literally part of the job description," Lance told him with a cocky smirk. "See you after this," Lance said with a nod before he started heading down the staircase, his rifle held level with his chest.

Shiro watched him for a moment before he shook himself out of his thoughts. Lance was a good soldier and an even better shot. He could look after himself and Shiro needed to get moving so no one could surprise them from above. Lance would be fine, Shiro knew that but he still couldn't shake that feeling of dread.

* * *

Lance continued making his way down the stairs after leaving Shiro's side. It didn't take him long to get onto the level he was supposed to clear and he could feel the five Lions in his mind. They were worried about him and their pilots but Lance just pushed it aside since the five of them were always worried about them when they were on a mission outside of them. Once at the bottom of the staircase, Lance cleared both directions before turning left, keeping his eyes and ears open for any sign of the Galra. Because the base had been abandoned, there was no noise from the engines to interfere with Lance's hearing. However, he knew from experience that the Galrans were quite good at sneaking around which is why he was focusing on his sight more than his hearing.

A handful of turns and dozens of rooms cleared later, Lance made to clear a right-hand turn when he spotted the first Galran sentry coming out of a room. Ducking back, Lance looked around the corridor he was currently in, weighing up his options. Glancing up, he noticed a thick bunch of metal pipes running along the left-hand side of the corridor, likely carrying water, electricity and other things that had kept the base running. Peeking back around the corner, Lance nearly swore when he saw the sentry getting closer to the junction of corridors. Making up his mind, Lance headed a few metres back down the corridor before crossing it. For half a second, Lance hesitated but eventually put his bayard in its neutral form and into his armour before he climbed up the wall, thanking himself for the number of hours he'd spent climbing up Blue's side.

Once he was up, he squirmed through a narrow gap between the pipes and wall before he settled himself on them. Slapping his hand lightly on his thigh, Lance had his bayard back in his hands and in its sniper form. Steadying the rifle on its adjustable bi-pod, Lance altered the bi-pod so the rifle muzzle was angled down to the position Lance needed it. Lining up the sights, Lance settled in for the wait, which didn't last very long. The first sentry – the one Lance had seen – rounded the corner none the wiser to the fact that it was in Lance's crosshairs. Rather than dropping it right at the moment he had it in his sights, Lance waited until it was further into the corridor, just in case there were more a few feet behind it. Lance didn't want its body lying in the junction of the corridor to act as a warning to the rest of the Galran.

However, just as he started to gently squeeze the trigger, something the sentry did made him release it quickly. Making sure he couldn't accidentally fire on the sentry, Lance watched it through his scope. It was turned so its back was facing Lance so the Blue Paladin couldn't see what it was doing until it turned around and put something on one of the metal struts. It took Lance a moment to figure out what it was simply because he'd never seen the Galran version of C-4 before.

"Fuck," Lance hissed, putting the sentry back in his crosshairs and firing a single shot before it could arm the bomb. "Guys, they're not here for something," Lance said over the comms. "They're here to destroy the base. The ones on my level are planting explosives. Shiro, Keith, have you seen any on your levels?" Lance asked, staying in his position and keeping an eye on the corridor for any sign of movement through his scope.

" _I haven't seen the Galra on my level yet but I've got a bad feeling about this,"_ Keith said.

" _So do I,"_ Shiro said. _"I've taken down a few Galran sentries but I haven't seen any actual Galrans yet,"_ Shiro told them. _"Lance, are you safe? Can you get back to Keith?"_ he asked.

"I'm fine. I shot the sentry before it could arm the bomb here," Lance told them, lining up the second sentry that came around the corner. The moment it froze upon seeing its companion's destroyed body, Lance took it out. "I could get back to-" a noise behind him had Lance glancing over his shoulder. "Never mind. I have sentries coming up behind me. They don't know I'm here so I'm still safe," Lance told them.

" _Shit,"_ Shiro swore. _"How many on your six?"_

Lance glanced back over his shoulder. "At least a dozen at first count," Lance whispered through his comms.

" _I'm coming to you, Lance,"_ Keith said.

"No!" Lance almost yelped. "You need to stay there until Pidge and Hunk are done. You can't leave them unprotected," Lance told him. "I'll be fine. None of them have spotted me and they won't either. I've got a good sniper hold here," Lance assured them.

" _I'll be finished in one minute,"_ Pidge told them.

Lance was sure he heard Keith swearing softly over the comms. "I'll be fine for a minute," Lance told them. "Stay there, Keith."

" _Lance is right, Keith. We need that intel and Pidge is the only one who can get it. Once she's done, the three of you can head down and help Lance,"_ Shiro told them.

" _Copy,"_ Keith said, voice tense. Pidge and Hunk's acknowledgements sounded a moment later.

Lance relaxed silently, relieved to know that Pidge and Hunk wouldn't be left unguarded because he hadn't thought to keep an eye on his six. He couldn't even transform his sniper rifle into his pistol – which would be so much more beneficial for quick changes in direction – because the glow of the transformation could capture their attention. The sentries had obviously seen their fallen brethren further in the corridor since they'd come to a complete stop and were now carefully scanning their surroundings. Lance fought the urge to hold his breath, forcing himself to remember that no matter how good their hearing was, the sentries had never been able to pick up on their breathing before so he should be safe.

Or that's what he thought until he saw one of the sentries place a device similar to the one the first sentry Lance took out had been placing. Fear welled up inside Lance so quickly, he felt like he was drowning in it. Forcing himself to calm down, Lance took in the options available to him. He could just use his sniper rifle. It would be a bit awkward because of how long the rifle was and how narrow the gap between him and the roof was but he could use it to take down at least two sentries before they locked onto his location. His next option was to transform his rifle into his pistol and hope the light wouldn't attract the attention of the sentries before he could take some of them out. His last option was to wait them out, hope they would think he'd moved on after taking out the first two sentries and would leave before the device blew, giving him the chance to get down and out of the corridor himself.

Deciding the third option was his best and really only option if he wanted to survive past this mission, Lance settled in for the long wait. A small series of beeps caught his attention and his breath froze in his throat before he reminded himself to breathe once more. He almost laughed at how silly his reaction was. He knew the explosive devices weren't just being stuck on the struts for decoration so the fact that he startled at the new one being set was pretty stupid, in his mind. Calming himself once more, Lance watched as the sentries slowly moved forward, ignoring the bodies of the two Lance had killed. One of them set the device the first one had been trying to before Lance shot it before it joined back up with the others. The group of sentries only stopped four more times down the corridor to plant more explosives before they disappeared around the corner.

Lance let out a long sigh of relief just as his comms crackled back to life. _"Pidge and Hunk are done. We're heading your way, Lance,"_ Keith told him.

"Don't worry about it," Lance said, easing out of his position and dropping silently to the ground. "The sentries have left the corridor," Lance told them. Changing his sniper rifle back into his usual rifle, Lance moved over to the closest explosive device to check and see if he could either disarm it or figure when it was set to go off. The Galran language was something he hadn't studied extensively since the Altean library in the Castle-Ship didn't offer much on it but he had the numbers down and he didn't like the looks of those numbers. "The bigger problem is that these devices are set to blow two minutes after they've been triggered. We need to get out of here before the Galra do," Lance told them.

" _Everyone, move back to the Green Lion,"_ Shiro ordered. _"I don't think they've finished setting the devices so we should be able to get out with plenty of time,"_ Shiro added, obviously trying to get some sort of positive into the conversation.

Noise behind Lance had him swinging behind the metal strut beam and aiming his rifle down the corridor once more. Three sentries were making their way back towards the strut Lance was hiding behind. Sighing in annoyance, Lance sighted down his rifle and fired three shots, barely taking the time to adjust so the next sentry was in his sights before he fired. All three sentries went down and Lance breathed a sigh of relief. With the sentries taken care of, Lance headed back up the corridor, ready to join back up with the others when he heard another series of beeps.

Spinning back around, Lance spotted a fourth sentry, very much alive at the end of the corridor with a small, black device in its metal claws. A glance at the device closest to him told him what he feared. Those stationary numbers had moved from 120 ticks to only ten and they were counting down rapidly. Firing a shot at the sentry who'd set the device off, Lance felt his panic rise as he watched the numbers fall. Placing his bayard into its neutral form and back in his armour within less then a second, he started running as fast as he could. He made it about three steps before he heard the explosion behind him and another half step before the concussive wave hit him. He blacked out before he ever hit the ground.

* * *

"I _hate_ being blown up," Lance groaned as he came to. Judging from the fact that the smoke from the explosion still lingered, Lance hadn't been unconscious for long but from the concerned voice in his ear, he'd been unconscious long enough for someone to notice. "I'm okay. I could use a hand though," Lance said, cutting off whoever had been speaking.

" _What happened? We heard an explosion and it sounded like it came from your level,"_ Shiro said, his voice filled with concern.

"I'm fine," Lance told him, somewhat truthfully. The armour and his helmet had protected him from the blast but he could feel something heavy on his legs and he was almost certain he was bleeding heavily from an injury to his right leg. "I could use a hand though. The explosion knocked some debris into my path and I can't move it by myself," Lance said, forcing himself to sit up and take stock of his situation.

" _Keith is going to come down to you and help. We're going to head for Green and fly her down to the platform on your level. Meet us there,"_ Shiro instructed.

"You got it, bossman," Lance said, biting down the gasp of pain that threatened to sound when he sat up.

The first thing he did was rematerialise his bayard and lock it so it would stay in its pistol form even if he dropped it. The next thing he did was brace himself to actually look at the injury to his leg properly. He could feel Blue's concern thrumming through him and – to a lesser degree – the other Lions' worry about his safety but he reassured them, telling them silently that he would be just fine once he got out of this mess. He could tell the Lions didn't fully believe him but he was fairly certain he wasn't likely to bleed out in the time it'd take Keith to get to him so he didn't count it as a bad injury.

Grunting as he adjusted himself so his weight was supported entirely on his right arm, Lance used his left to grab the small medkit he kept on himself. Once he had it sitting next to his pistol, Lance finally took a proper look at his situation. There was part of the metal strut sitting across his legs, just above the knees, and pressing down hard. The blood flow to his lower legs wasn't cut off, thankfully, so Lance knew he wouldn't have to worry about a blood embolism once the weight was lifted off him, which was a great relief. The gash to his leg, however, was a little worse than he thought. The jagged edge of the strut had managed to not only tear off the piece of armour that covered his thigh, but had caught him from his mid-thigh, tearing through the skin and muscle as the strut fell on him. Even though there was a significant blood pool spreading from his leg over the floor, Lance knew it could've been worse. He'd been lucky that the blast or some piece of debris had hit him hard enough to turn him so he'd wound up on his back rather than his stomach or that strut could've caught an artery.

Unfortunately, he wasn't able to lift his thigh up at all, meaning he couldn't bandage the wound right now, which was a little concerning. However, he needed to do something to slow the bleeding down so he grabbed his med kit, thanking every deity he could think of that he kept it on his left side, before he grabbed out a large piece of gauze and the closest thing to tape the medical bay on the Castle-Ship had. Once the gauze had been tapped into place and Lance was fairly certain that he wasn't going to bleed out from the injury, Lance looked around for his missing piece of armour, hoping to use it to secure the injury further and add some pressure to help slow the bleeding. Spotting it laying only a few feet from him, Lance stretched to grab it only to hiss in pain as the movement caused his injury to flare agonisingly. Giving up on the armour with a sigh of irritation, Lance sat back up and moved onto his next problem: getting the damaged strut off his legs.

Very faint footsteps had Lance grabbing his pistol and twisting to point of extreme pain. Forcing himself to ignore the pain, Lance held the pistol level, ready to fire a shot. _"Lance, I'm about to turn into your corridor. Don't shoot me,"_ Keith said over the comms and Lance snorted slightly as he lowered his gun.

"Like I wouldn't have been able to tell you weren't a sentry the moment you stepped into view, Mullet," Lance told him as Keith came into view.

"I thought you said there was debris – Lance, what the fuck?!" Keith sputtered as he took in his injured teammate. "You said the debris was in your path! You didn't say it was on you!"

"Technically, it being on me is it being in my path," Lance told him as he watched Keith move to his side and take in the damage for himself.

"Lance, now is not the time for your deflective attitude," Keith snapped as he knelt next to Lance. "Why didn't you tell us the truth?" he asked as he took in everything so he could try and figure out how to help Lance without injuring him further.

"I just need to get this off me and I'll be fine," Lance said. "We don't know when the Galran are gonna set those bombs to start their countdown. It'd take us a minute and a half at least to get to the platform Green would have to land on for access to this level. We wouldn't have the time to get to her if the bombs are triggered now," Lance told him. "Honestly, if I didn't need _someone_ to help me get this off, I wouldn't have asked," Lance added almost thoughtlessly.

"I may not have the medical experience you and Coran have but even I know you aren't going to be able to walk on that leg by yourself," Keith snarled slightly. "I thought we'd gotten through to you about telling us the truth when it came to any injuries you got," Keith sighed slightly and Lance felt himself flinch back at his words.

"I'm sorry," Lance said quietly, keeping his head bowed slightly.

Keith noticed his subdued behaviour and sighed through his nose silently. He hadn't meant to sound so harsh towards Lance but as always, his temper had gotten the best of him and Lance's insecurities made sure he'd noticed it. "Look," Keith said, "I'm not gonna say it's fine because it really isn't but we'll work on it," Keith said, giving Lance a small, encouraging smile that the Blue Paladin tentatively returned. "Let's get this off you and get out of here," he said, changing the subject quickly, Knowing all too well Lance's tendencies to make things more emotional than Keith could handle.

"Okay, well I'm fairly certain that that strut isn't cutting off my blood supply to my lower legs because I still have feeling in my toes," Lance said, "but you need to go slow in getting it off, just in case," Lance told him.

"Just in case of what?" Keith asked curiously.

"Well, sometimes if a person is trapped like this and their blood supply is cut off to a part of their body, reintroducing blood flow too quickly can cause a blood embolism and that person dies," Lance explained casually. "Plus, there's no telling whether there's an injury to the parts of my legs that the strut is sitting on that I can't feel because I haven't tried moving the strut myself," Lance told him.

"You'll tell me the moment you feel there's an injury under there that will only be made worse by me moving this, right?" Keith asked, not making a move to help Lance until he got the reassurance he needed.

"I will," Lance promised after a few moments. Even though the team and Alteans had been taking every opportunity the last couple of months to make sure everyone – Lance especially – knew that it was alright to admit to being hurt and that no one was going to think badly of them because they'd gotten injured, Lance still hesitated in doing so. He was getting better about it but there were still times, like this situation, where he didn't tell anyone he was injured because he didn't want them to worry or be disappointed in him.

Keith seemed to be satisfied with his response and Lance thought he actually saw some relief in the Red Paladin's eyes. "Alright, well I can already tell I won't be able to lift that strut but maybe I can leverage it off you and you can get yourself out from under it," Keith said, already looking around for what he could use. Spotting a chunk of wall that had been torn out with the strut, Keith moved it until it was sitting underneath the end of the strut on Lance's left. "You ready?" Keith asked, readying his bayard so it would stay in its sword form while he used it as a crowbar.

Grabbing his locked bayard, Lance shifted it back into its neutral form and placed it in his armoured thigh before he packed and secured his med-kit. "As I'll ever be," Lance said once he was done, giving Keith a nod.

Placing the blade of his sword between the chunk of wall and the strut, Keith pulled it upwards, forcing the blade to lift the strut. Lance hissed out the groan of pain building in him as the weight steadily lifted off him little by little. Lance could see Keith's arms and legs shaking slightly with the amount of effort he was putting into lifting the strut. Finally, the weight was completely off his legs and Lance scrambled backwards, streaking his blood across the floor.

Completely ignoring his injury in the process, Lance had to muffle a pained yelp as he got himself completely clear so Keith could stop. The moment he was clear, Lance gave Keith a nod and the Red Paladin was quick to drop the strut by transforming his bayard back into its neutral form. The strut dropped heavily onto the chunk of wall, making the metal groan and screech as it hit the metal surface of the wall but it soon settled, much to Lance's relief since his lower legs were still under the strut.

"Lance? Are you okay? Are you hurt anywhere else?" Keith asked the moment he'd dropped the strut.

"No, I don't think so," Lance rasped out, resisting the urge to just lay flat on his back as he waited for his injury to settle down once more. "It's just the one injury," Lance assured him. Keith didn't look overly convinced, if the way his purple eyes scanned the lower half of Lance was any indication but the Cuban didn't take any offence to it. "I just need to bandage the gauze in place. The tape won't hold it long if we have to move quickly," Lance said as he grabbed the medkit once more.

"Is there anything you want me to do?" Keith asked as Lance tore open a new bandage, throwing the rubbish to the side.

Lance hesitated in what he was doing. "Actually, can you wrap it?" Lance asked hesitatingly. It wasn't that he thought Keith wouldn't be able to do it right but more because even though he _had_ been doing it more, he still found it hard to ask people to help him with an injury he knew he could deal with himself that was more severe than a papercut. "It needs to be pretty tight to hold the gauze in place and I'm not sure I can do it tight enough," he admitted a little shamefully.

Keith could feel his immediate refusal to do as he was asked rise – an instinct he'd developed in response to someone asking him to do something he wasn't good at – but he kept his mouth closed and took the bandage Lance was holding. "How do I do this?" he asked as he knelt next to Lance's right thigh, forcing himself to ignore the blood streak he was kneeling in. "Should I use new gauze?" Keith asked, a little alarmed to see the one Lance had taped to his leg had bled through.

Lance looked at the wound and grimace. "Yeah, you'll have to," Lance said before he grabbed more gauze from the kit. "Are you okay with doing this?" he asked even as he handed the gauze over.

"I'm fine," Keith said. "You just have to talk me through it so I don't end up doing anything wrong," he informed Lance.

"Okay," Lance said, not pushing the matter even though he knew Keith was as thrilled to deal with injuries as Hunk was with dealing with blood. "Remove the gauze that's in place. You just have to scratch the corner of the tape and it'll lift itself enough for you to pull it the rest of the way off," Lance told him. Keith gave him a nod and did as he was told, removing each piece of tape carefully before he peeled the bloody gauze away.

"Dammit, Lance. This looks really bad," Keith said as he took in the injury for the first time.

"Doesn't feel that great either," Lance told him with a shaky laugh. "You need to put the gauze over it," he told Keith when the Red Paladin didn't move. Keith jolted slightly before he did as he was told, making Lance flinch when he felt the pressure Keith was applying to the gauze. "Don't apologise, it's fine," Lance reassured him, dismissing the horrified apology Keith had immediately offered. "Now you need to hold the end of the bandage in place with the hand you've got holding the gauze and start wrapping it around my thigh. It has to be tight but not so tight it cuts off my circulation. Don't lighten up on the pressure if you think I'm in pain because you will be doing me more bad than good, okay?" Lance said and Keith nodded. "When you reach the end of the bandage, hold the end flat against the rest of the bandage then tap it. The end of the bandage will meld itself into the rest of the bandage so it won't unravel," Lance instructed.

"Got it," Keith said, looking a little pale at the thought he'll be causing Lance more pain but, to his credit, he didn't hesitate once Lance had finished giving him his instructions.

Biting the inside of his cheek harshly, Lance held in a muffled yelp as Keith finished wrapping the wound, tapping the end of the bandage like he was told to do so it wouldn't unravel. Trying to keep his mind off the pain, Lance's gaze fell on the piece of armour missing from his thigh and realised it was still out of his reach. "Can you grab that for me?" Lance asked, pointing to the armour piece before Keith could ask if he was okay again.

"Why?" Keith asked even as he went to do so. "You know we have the materials and stuff we need to make more armour," he said as he handed it to Lance.

"Yeah but this will put pressure on the injury and help slow the bleeding down and stop anything more happening to it, hopefully," Lance told him as he took the armour piece. Placing it carefully over the bandage, Lance gritted his teeth as he felt the armour clamp securely back into place. Keith looked concerned but said nothing, knowing that it was important to make sure the bleeding was under control.

"Come on, give me your hand." Not bothering to wait for the Blue Paladin to do as he was told, Keith crouched next to him, grabbed Lance's left arm and draped it over his shoulders. "Ready?" Keith asked, echoing himself from only a few moments ago.

"Sure am," Lance told him, trying his best to ignore the throbbing pain emanating from his leg. He felt Keith tighten his hold on his left forearm and where his other hand sat just under Lance's right armpit before he was pulled upright. The moment his right leg straightened, Lance groaned and almost went down again from the amount of pain he was in. "Holy crow," he gasped as he squeezed his eyes shut as he fought against the pain.

"Are you alright?" Keith asked, voice drenched in concern as he struggled between continuing to support Lance's weight or to have him lean up against the undamaged wall so he could check Lance over himself.

"Just peachy," Lance told him, voice a little strangled as he continued to fight down the pain. With him being upright, his blood flow was causing the injury to throb far more intensely than it had when he was seated and he found out pretty quickly that he couldn't put any weight on his leg whatsoever.

" _We made it to Green and Pidge has landed her on your level. She's still cloaked but we'll make her visible when we see you,"_ Shiro told them, interrupting Keith as he was about to tell Lance to be answer him honestly.

"Copy that, Shiro," Keith said before Lance could say anything. "Can you contact the Castle-Ship and tell Coran to ready a pod? Lance is injured," Keith told him, ignoring the mutters from Lance that he would've done so himself.

" _How badly?"_ Shiro asked, his concern overtaking his leader persona.

"He can't put weight on his right leg but other than that, he's fine," Keith answered, again ignoring Lance's comment of how he could do so himself. "It won't take us more than a few dobashes to get to your position," Keith told him.

" _Hunk and I will meet you in the middle and make sure you don't have any extra Galra to deal with,"_ Shiro told them, his tone leaving no room for argument so neither boy bothered to offer one.

"Got it," was all Keith said before he let the comm fall silent. "Get your bayard back out so you can deal with any sentries we come across," Keith instructed.

"I'm surprised you aren't planning on taking them all on by yourself, Mullet," Lance teased weakly as he did as Keith told him, turning his bayard into his pistol since it was the only form he could unlock that he could use with one hand.

"I can't fight them and support you at the same time," Keith told him simply. "You'll need to lay cover fire if we come across some."

"Oh," Lance said as he realised Keith was going to be relying on him to get them to the meet up with Shiro and Hunk uninjured. "Okay," he said, trying to be his usual cocky self but he just knew he failed when Keith squeezed his left forearm comfortingly.

"You can do it," Keith said reassuringly. "There's no one in this universe who's a better shot than you and you've certainly never let an injury get in the way of taking down an enemy," Keith said, keeping his voice positive and encouraging.

Lance gave him a grateful smile before he plastered his usual smirk in place. "That is the gods-honest truth right there," Lance said, his cocky persona seemingly more believable now than it had been before. "Let's get going before Shiro and Hunk think something else has happened," Lance suggested.

Keith didn't bother replying to that but he did do as Lance said and started moving them forward. It took them a few moments to figure out how quickly Lance's injury could handle them moving but they managed and were now steadily moving down the corridor. "Do you have your map up?" Keith asked when he realised he couldn't do so.

"Don't need it," Lance told him. "I can track the Lions through our bonds. They have to be fairly close to me for me to do so – Blue obviously excepted there – but I can track them," he explained when Keith made a curious noise.

"That's handy," Keith commented as they rounded a corner Lance pointed at.

Five gunshots later had the sentries lingering in that corridor hitting the floor. "Sure is," Lance said as they continued moving down the hall.

They continued to move through the hallways and corridors as quickly as they could. Keith only forced them to a stop twice; once because a group of twenty sentries were heading towards them and both boys knew Lance couldn't take all of them out without help or more injuries befalling them and the second time because Lance nearly collapsed from the pain and exhaustion caused by his leg injury. Keith had to curtly tell Lance that he either rested for a minute or he'd throw him over his shoulder and carry him the rest of the way, leaving them open to attacks. It was a little low of him to use the threat of an injury happening because Lance couldn't fire his gun but since it got Lance to rest, Keith couldn't find it in himself to feel too badly about it at the end of the day.

They were almost to the halfway point – according to Lance's internal Green Lion tracker – when Lance said something to Keith that wasn't a warning about incoming sentries. "Thanks, by the way," Lance said, "for coming to help me, patching me up and not lecturing me when you realised I'd hidden the fact that my situation was a little worse than I'd said. I know you really wanted to," Lance elaborated when Keith made a questioning noise.

"You don't have to thank me for that, you know," Keith said, ignoring his uneasiness at starting a talk that was more emotional than he was usually comfortable with. "I just hope that one day you're as comfortable with coming to us for help as we are going to you when we need help," Keith told him honestly and Lance winced slightly.

"I do trust you guys a lot. It's just…" Lance trailed off as he struggled to figure out how to articulate what he was trying to say.

"You're not used to asking for help or showing anyone who isn't family that you're having a rough time," Keith finished for him and Lance nodded. "We get it and we're not going to push you or lecture you into trusting us with that sort of stuff because it would be pretty counterproductive. We understand why you're so hesitant about reaching out for help even though you're the one who has that sixth sense that tells you when someone close to you is having a hard time," Keith said with a small grin as he recalled Lance trying to explain his 'spidey sense' to them all when Shiro had finally asked how the Blue Paladin had always known one of them was in trouble.

"I get that I'm practically a walking example of 'do as I say, not as I do' but you guys know I'm trying to get back out of that habit, right?" Lance asked and Keith gave him a nod.

"We know," Keith assured him. "You're welcome, by the way," Keith said after a moment to see if Lance was going to say anything more. "Besides, I figured you having to sit through Shiro and Coran's lectures will probably be more than enough," Keith told him, grinning madly when Lance groaned dramatically, his head falling to his chest.

"They will never let me go somewhere by myself again," Lance whined, feeling a little betrayed when he felt all of the Lions nodding or humming agreement with him.

"You probably won't be proven wrong," Keith said, not bothering to hide his amusement with Lance's antics. "Sentry twenty metres ahead," Keith warned, having spotted it setting another explosive while Lance was being his usual self.

"Got it," the Blue Paladin said, his previous behaviour gone in the face of an enemy for the two seconds it took Lance to fire the kill shot. "We should be running into Shiro and Hunk any moment now," Lance told him, looking and sounding a little confused about the fact that they hadn't already.

Before Keith could say anything, two figures rounded the corner quickly, causing Lance to raise his pistol in the same moment Keith's free hand went behind his back, ready to grab his knife if he needed it. Luckily for them, Lance was quick to identify them as their teammates and lowered his pistol so he wouldn't accidentally shoot them. "Speak of the devil and all that," Keith muttered as he helped Lance limp towards the two worried Paladins.

"Lance! Keith!" Shiro exclaimed with relief as he and Hunk headed for their fellow pilots. "How's your leg, Lance?" Shiro asked the moment he was within reach of the two.

"It's not going to fall off so I'd say pretty good," Lance told him, earning himself an elbow in the ribs from Keith.

"What did we talk about?" Keith asked pointedly, causing Lance to give him a sheepish grimace while Shiro and Hunk exchanged a confused look.

"I need a pod. When the sentry set off the explosion, the debris hit me and pinned me to the ground. Some of it cut a large, deep gash into the front of my thigh," Lance told them.

"And you're walking on it?!" Hunk demanded as he started fussing over Lance, apparently completely forgetting he was in a Galra base with Galran sentries running around, setting explosives that could be triggered at any time.

"Had no choice, Hunky-Bear! Keith was actually the one to point out that since I couldn't put weight on it, I'd have to provide cover fire while he helped me walk cuz he couldn't fight any sentry who turned up _and_ help me move at the same time," Lance told him.

"Do you want me to piggy-back you to Green?" Hunk asked, still worried about his best friend putting any kind of weight on his injured leg.

"As much as I would love one of your piggy-back rides, Hunky, I'm gonna have to pass. I don't think it would be a very fun experience for me this time," Lance told him, patting his arm in thanks.

"You shouldn't be walking on that leg though, even if Keith is providing support," Shiro said with a frown.

"I'll carry him," Hunk immediately offered before Lance could protest. Shiro was already nodding while Keith helped Hunk ready Lance to be picked up bridal-style before Lance could say or do anything to tell them it really wasn't necessary.

"I don't need to be –" Lance started protesting as Hunk lifted him into his arms, careful not to jostle his right leg when he cut himself off because over Hunk's shoulder were four sentries trying to sneak up on them. Shifting his bayard into his rifle, he used Hunk's shoulder to steady his aim. "I can't get that one on my far right," Lance told them as he took down the other three, summoning his shield to block a shot aimed at Hunk's back.

The force of the impact made Hunk stumble forward since Lance hadn't been able to warn him of the shot being fired. "Thanks, _hermano_ ," Hunk said as he righted himself before he fell completely over.

"Anytime," Lance said as he watched Keith eviscerate the sentry Lance hadn't been able to take down himself.

"Let's get going before their friends get here," Shiro ordered and, upon receiving zero arguments, turned to lead them back to Green and their missing teammate.

Hunk was careful not to move too quickly that he risked hurting Lance more than he already was but he wanted his best friend off this base and into a pod ASAP. He really wanted to ask Lance what Keith had said to him when the Red Paladin had found him but decided he'd just ask once Lance was out of the healing pod. Lance still didn't look too happy about being carried like this and Hunk knew it was mostly because Lance saw this as being a burden to the team, even if no one else saw it that way. Hunk could see the looks Keith was giving Lance and he knew that the Red Paladin had a pretty good idea of what was going on in Lance's mind at this moment. Lance didn't seem to notice any of this as he kept his eyes peeled on the path ahead of them, rifle at the ready in case a sentry appeared in front of them.

"At least you can't deny that Hunk carried you," Keith said, seemingly muttering to himself though Hunk knew there was no way he'd meant for them not to be able to hear him.

"I keep telling you, dude, if there's no proof then it didn't happen!" Lance predictably took the bait and argued, just like Hunk knew Keith wanted him to. As Lance traded barbs with Keith, Hunk couldn't help but feel proud of the Red Paladin for figuring out so quickly that Lance needed to be drawn out his head and reminded that he wasn't alone.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry this one is a little later than normal but I was very busy last night and didn't get access to internet or my laptop until now :) I hope you guys have a good week and I just want you to know that I have a date for the final chapter, which will be the 24th of this month. I'll see you all next week!


	5. Chapter 5

" _Paladins, you're needed in the control room,"_ Allura's voice said, speaking clearly over the comm systems in the Castle-Ship.

Lance frowned as he looked up at the speaker that had emitted her voice before he quickly dispatched the last two gladiators in his training room. "End training session," Lance called out once the gladiators' bodies had been cleared from the floor.

" _Training session ended,"_ came the reply from what Lance had dubbed as 'Space Siri', much to Hunk's and Pidge's amusement and disgust.

Shifting his bayard from sniper rifle to its neutral form, Lance held it against his thigh and let it reabsorb into his armour. He thought about getting changed back into his civilian clothes but ultimately decided against it. Since Keith had agreed to help the Blades of Mamora with a mission that would last four days total, Allura had decided against accepting missions that absolutely required Voltron's aid. If it could be handled by the four remaining Paladins and the Castle-Ship, Allura would agree to take it on. Since Keith wasn't due back for another two days and Allura only ever called them to the control room if they were about to be assigned a mission, Lance knew getting changed out of his uniform would be a waste of time.

"Do you know what's going on?" Lance decided to ask the Lions as he headed out of the secondary training room and towards the elevator.

" _We have an idea but it would be best for you to get all the details from Princess Allura,"_ Blue told him, chuckling lightly when he pouted at her.

"Fine," Lance sighed dramatically as the elevator took him down to the floor he needed to be on. "That's mean of you, just so you know," he told her.

" _I'm sure you'll survive,"_ she teased him as he stepped out of the elevator.

"Rude," Lance sniffed at her. "Do any of you feel like being nice?" Lance asked, extending the question to the four Lions he didn't pilot.

" _Sorry, Blue's cub, but since you're almost at the control room, there's no point,"_ Black told him. The three other Lions were quick to hum their agreement.

"Traitors, the lot of you," he said, grinning even as he spoke. "How are you going without Mullet?" he asked, cutting the four who weren't Red off so he had a bit of privacy. Though usually as willing to admit to or talk about her feelings as Keith himself was, Lance had found that Red was a little bit more likely to open up to him since the events on Tra'Crolle.

" _I'm fine. A little bored and annoyed I haven't been able to go with you and my sisters for missions,"_ Red told him.

"Do you want me to come and annoy you later?" Lance asked as he spotted Hunk ahead of him.

" _I wouldn't be opposed to company,"_ Red said, only a touch of embarrassment at admitting that in her tone.

Lance grinned as he latched onto Hunk's back (he had been nice enough to give his bestie a warning in the form of a shout), laughing as the two of them nearly went tumbling. "I'll come and see you as soon as I can, Red," Lance promised her. He felt her gratefulness before he turned his attention to his grumbling best friend. "Hi, Hunky!" he greeted joyfully.

"Lance, as much as I love your surprise hugs, can you give me a bit more warning next time?" Hunk asked, his voice filled with laughter as he returned his best friend's hug.

"But then they wouldn't be a surprise anymore!" Lance pointed out. "Hey, gremlin!" he called before Hunk could answer. Pidge looked up and over to them, pausing in her walk to the control room so they could catch up to her.

"Surprise hug?" she asked Hunk, who nodded.

"Surprise hug," he said, voice serious before both he and Pidge let out some laughter that only grew when they spotted Lance's pout.

"No need to be jealous, Pidgey," Lance told her, a mischievous grin on his face. "If you want one, all you gotta do is ask!" he said, launching himself at her.

Pidge shrieked, dodging his grab before she took off up the hallway. "Get away from me, you overgrown monkey!" Pidge shouted as she sprinted from Lance, who was now in full pursuit while Hunk's laughter echoed after them.

"Why don't you love me, Pidgey?!" Lance laughed as he chased the Green Paladin. A figure stepped in front of Lance as they emerged from a corridor but the Blue Paladin managed to dodge around him before they collided. "Sorry, Shiro!" Lance called as he continued chasing down Pidge.

"Do I want to know?" Shiro asked Hunk when the Yellow Paladin caught up to him.

"Nothing bad?" Hunk said, making it sound more like a question.

"I'll settle for that," Shiro told him with a nod. It sounded far easier than chasing down the two other Paladins and getting them to explain themselves at any rate.

The pair finished the walk to the control room making small talk and neither were able to keep their grins hidden when they finally caught up to the other two and found Lance hugging an extremely disgruntled Pidge, who had her arms pinned so she couldn't hit him in retaliation. "Surprise hug?" Hunk asked, a shit-eating grin on his face that grew when Pidge glared at him.

"I will destroy all of you," she seethed as Lance tightened his hug.

"Lance, let Pidge go so we can see what Allura needs us for," Shiro instructed.

Lance sighed but did as he was told, dropping Pidge back to her feet. "Ow!" he hissed when Pidge kicked his ankle, one of the few parts of his body that wasn't covered with armour.

"Be thankful that's all I did to you," Pidge told him. "It could have been worse."

"You raise an excellent point," Lance conceded while Shiro and Hunk rolled their eyes.

"Come on," Shiro said, putting himself in between the two Paladins so nothing else could happen. Placing his hand on the electronic pad, Shiro opened the door and led the Paladins into the control room. "What's going on?" he asked as soon as he spotted Allura.

"The planet below us has contacted us," Allura told them, getting straight to the point. "A Galran pod crash-landed but before the inhabitants could get to the site – to render aid or secure the occupant of the pod, depending on how dangerous they were – three Galran fighters landed near the crash site," Allura said. "Several of the Yalegs who'd rushed to the original crash site witnessed a lone figure race from the wreckage into a set of old but vast cave systems nearby. The Galrans soon followed them. Yal has requested our aid in assisting the being who crashed as they believe them to be the kidnapped prince of a neighbouring planet, Sentille, who is a long-time friend to Yal," she explained.

"So it's just a search and rescue?" Lance asked, brow furrowed. "Why are they requesting our help? Wouldn't it make more sense for them to do this themselves since they know the cave system?" he asked.

"They're a peaceful planet," Allura told them. "They don't have weapons that would be useful against the Galrans and they don't have the fighting experience," she said. "They've offered to supply all of you with a map, which they've sent to us and can be uploaded to your uniforms once you're in your Lion," she said, "but they can't offer any further assistance. As I said, they aren't a warrior race and they've told me that they would be more of a hindrance to you than helpful if they joined you in the cave system," she reiterated.

"Where's Coran?" Lance asked, suddenly realising the other Altean was nowhere in the control room, something that was rare when they were being briefed for a mission.

"Coran is currently checking the planet's atmosphere and environment for you so we know what precautions you may have to take," Allura told him. She'd only just finished saying that when the door opened to permit the orange-haired Altean, who was reading whatever was displayed on his tablet screen.

"This is truly fascinating!" he said in lieu of an actual greeting. "The number of similarities their atmosphere has to the Paladins home planet is incredible, and yet there are so many differences!" he told them.

"Coran, is it safe for humans?" Allura asked, cutting off anything more he was about to tell them about how interesting the readings were.

"Oh, yes, completely harmless," Coran informed them. "I would recommend keeping your helmets on in there though because their environment is very oxygen rich, much more so than what your bodies are able to withstand. We don't any of you to start seizing or suffer from retinal detachment!" Coran told them cheerily.

"Yeah, that doesn't sound like any fun at all," Lance said, looking a little stricken. "I vote for helmets staying on," Lance said.

"Seconded," Hunk piped up, looking a little green at the idea of their retinas detaching because there was too much oxygen in their system. Pidge nodded enthusiastically next to Hunk.

"Helmets will stay on," Shiro assured them. "What's the plan, Princess?" he asked, looking back at Allura.

"The four of you will take your Lions and disable the Galran fighters before you leave your Lions and enter the cave system," Allura told them. "The Yalegs have provided us with the signature of a Sentille so your map should start scanning for the missing prince as soon as you enter the caves," she said. "The Galrans will not show up on your map. You will need to keep an eye out for them and one another if you decide to split up. The cave system, from what I understand from the Yalegs, is plenty big enough for you to maneuver through easily enough. The Sentilles are roughly the same size as you, Shiro, in build so if Shiro can't fit somewhere, the prince likely won't be able to either," she told them. "Your primary mission is to secure the prince and hand him over to the Yalegs so they can look after him while you undertake your secondary mission, which is to take out the Galrans once the prince is safely out of harm's way," Allura informed them.

"Understood, Princess," Shiro told her. Lance, Hunk, and Pidge nodded their acknowledgement of her orders. "Lance, you're my second for this mission," Shiro announced, causing the Blue Paladin to look at him, expression shocked.

"Are you sure?" Lance couldn't stop himself from asking. He didn't even realise what he'd said until the words were out of his mouth.

"Very sure," Shiro said, clapping him on the shoulder and giving him a warm smile. "You'll make an excellent second-in-command," Shiro told him, politely ignoring the way Lance's cheeks pinked with the praise. The Lions were less polite.

"Lance?" Allura didn't even need to ask a whole question for Lance to know what she was asking him.

"I'm good, Princess," he assured her. It wasn't like he'd have to do much as Shiro's second-in-command anyway. He'd just have to back up his decisions or tell him if he thought an idea was too dangerous or complicated for them to use. He'd be fine.

"Excellent." She gave him a warm smile before she got back to business. "The Castle-Ship will provide you back up, should you need it," she said, getting another round of nods. "There is nothing else you need to be made aware of," Allura told them. "Get to your Lions," she ordered.

The four Paladins didn't hesitate to follow her orders as they raced for their Lion's hangar bay. Allura made her way over to the control panel and nodded for Coran to contact the Yalegs so she could inform them that they would be accepting the mission and that the Lions of Voltron were heading their way as they spoke. As she waited for Coran to patch them through, Allura sighed internally and found herself hoping that this mission would run as smoothly as the last two had and that they wouldn't end up needing Voltron before the mission was completed.

* * *

" _Lance, take out the fighters the moment they're in your sight,"_ Shiro ordered as soon as the Lions entered the planet's atmosphere.

"Roger that, bossman," Lance said, priming Blue's tail laser as he did so. It didn't take too long for him to spot the three fighters that surrounded the blackened crater that was the crash site. "Heads up," Lance said as he watched the ground. "Looks like they've left guards and we may have to deal with them on the ground," Lance warned the others, even as he fired three shots, taking a fighter out with each one.

" _Good shooting and thanks for the warning,"_ Shiro said as they circled the decimated fighters and brought the Lions in for a landing. _"Let's get going,"_ Shiro instructed as soon as they'd all landed.

Lance didn't hesitate as he unclipped his harness and checked his helmet was on his head. Satisfied he was mission-ready, he had Blue lower her ramp for him so he could join the others. _"Stay safe,"_ Blue said as he walked down her ramp.

"I'll do my best, beautiful," he told her, patting the walls of her ramp. By the time he'd reached the others, they had been joined by a small group of Yalegs and Lance had missed the introductions.

"Thank you for assisting us, Paladins," the Yaleg in front of Shiro said, bowing gratefully. They were a small species, smaller than Pidge was, and Lance could immediately tell they really weren't used to violence or weapons since they were eyeing the destroyed fighters and Lions apprehensively.

"It's our honour to give assistance to those who require it," Shiro told them. "We've been ordered to locate and retrieve the prince of Sentille, who you believe is the being who entered these cave systems after crash landing on your planet," Shiro said, needing the confirmation from the Yalegs before they headed into the caves. It wouldn't have been the first time that information had been mistranslated and resulted in misunderstandings that had almost cost them or the planet greatly.

"Yes, Prince Lumstille," the Yaleg confirmed. "His parents, the King and Queen of Sentille, contacted us only yesterday to inform us that their son had been kidnapped before escaping the Galran in one of their own pods. They asked us to keep an eye out for him since it was possible he would come to us for aid as our planets have been close since as far back as any of our histories go," they said. "So when we saw the pod crash, we knew it had to be the prince. We weren't quick enough, however, to reach him before the three Galran teams had found him and we aren't equipped or trained enough to go up against the Galrans," they admitted, sounding mildly ashamed.

"The maps you've provided us, as well as the signature for a Sentille, will be more than enough help to aide us in locating the prince," Shiro assured them. "Once we have him, our first priority is to bring him to you before we deal with any remaining Galran. You must be prepared to find cover as soon as you have the prince with you, if we order you to," Shiro warned them and the Yalegs nodded in agreement.

"We understand, Black Paladin," the leader said. "We thank you once again for your aide and wish you luck on your mission," they said solemnly.

"Thank you," Shiro said, dipping his head before he silently ordered the three other Paladins to follow him. "I had Black scan our surroundings once you took out the fighter ships, Lance, and she's reported no signs of life other than the Yalegs and us," Shiro told them as they stood at the mouth of the cave. "It's likely the Galrans left on guard had all managed to get in the fighter ships before you dealt with them," he said. Lance felt the familiar pang of unease and guilt at taking another's life but he forced himself to bury it deep down for later. "We'll enter the caves from here, since this is the cave the Yalegs saw the prince enter. We'll stick together for now and use both the maps provided and search for physical signs to track. Understood?" Shiro asked.

"Understood," the three of them echoed.

"Lance, I want you and Hunk to lead us in. Hunk, you'll be reading the map and Lance, you'll be providing our cover," Shiro told them, getting nods from both Paladins. "Pidge and I will be watching our six," he said, getting a nod from Pidge. "Ready?" he asked.

"As we'll ever be," Lance told him while Hunk and Pidge nodded their agreements.

"Remember, helmets stay on," Shiro said. He almost grinned at how quick they were to all nod their acknowledgement but managed to restrain himself. "Let's go," he ordered, nodding to Hunk and Lance to take the lead.

"Shields up, ladies," Lance instructed, muttering out loud as he materialised his bayard and transformed it into his rifle. Hunk pulled up his map just as the four Lions encased themselves in their blue shielding. Hunk nodded to Lance that he had the map set up. "Alright, let's go rescue a prince," Lance said as he led them into the cave system, bayard resting on his shoulder and readied to be fired at a moment's notice.

* * *

"Pidge, the first thing you're doing when we get back to the Castle-Ship is making some damned drones so we don't have to spend hours in a cave system looking for kidnapped princes!" Lance told her as he led the group down another tunnel Hunk instructed them to go down.

"You don't even have to ask," Pidge told him, her voice disgruntled. "How have we not found the prince or any Galrans in the near two hours it's been?" she asked incredulously.

"Please don't jinx us," Hunk requested nervously as he kept his eye on the map. They had found themselves extremely grateful for it since they'd discovered rather quickly that the Castle-Ship's scanners couldn't see them or the trackers in their uniforms anymore. Their comms worked fine so Allura and Coran weren't too worried about losing them on the scanner but it did mean they had requested updates more frequently than they usually would've. A small _blip_ sounded and Hunk looked up in surprise and relief. "The map has picked up on the Sentille signature," he told them.

" _Gracias a Dios,"_ Lance sighed. "How far away is he?" Lance asked, peering over Hunk's arm to look at the map himself.

"Not much further," Hunk told him even as Shiro and Pidge glanced at his map as well. "Another couple hundred feet," he guessed.

"Awesome," Lance said, straightening back up and holding his rifle at the ready once more. "Are we continuing as we have been?" Lance asked Shiro, who nodded.

"Keep this formation until we've got the prince in sight," Shiro instructed.

Lance gave a nod before he moved forward, eyes and ears open to try and find any sign of danger as soon as possible. Hunk whispered directions to him through their helmet comms so that Lance wouldn't have to worry about glancing over to the map every few feet. When they reached the final turn they'd have to take, Lance had them wait while he glanced around the corner, rifle poised to take a shot if he needed to but, to his relief, the tunnel was empty.

"It's clear," Lance told them.

Shiro stepped forward. "Right. The prince is only a few metres ahead. Lance, I want you and Hunk to stay on mine and Pidge's six now. With our weapons, we need to be in front to use them properly," Shiro said. Both Lance and Hunk nodded and took a couple of steps backwards. Hunk turned off the map and brought out his bayard, transforming it into his mini-canon and giving Shiro a nod to show he was ready. "Let's move," Shiro ordered, heading down the tunnel first, with Pidge following quickly, her bayard glowing as it transformed into her grapple hook.

Lance was on high alert as they approached the cave the prince had apparently taken refuge in. At every point in a search and rescue mission, the Galra always seemed to appear when they'd found the person they were searching for. However, much to Lance's surprise, no Galrans appeared as Shiro went into the cave to talk with the prince and convince him to come with them. Hunk had moved so he stood on the other side of the cave mouth, mini-canon ready to fire on anyone who approached them from that direction while Lance did the same for the side he was on. Pidge was watching Shiro just in case the prince attacked or something else happened.

"I've got him," Shiro announced through their comms. "Let's get back to the Yalegs," he instructed as he escorted the prince out of the cave. "Lance, you're on our six. Hunk, take the lead. Pidge, you're on map-duty," Shiro ordered.

Both Hunk and Pidge were quick to move so they were in front of Lance while Shiro escorted the prince, who was the same size and build as Shiro – just as Allura had said he would be –, so that the two of them were in between the two Paladins with long range weapons. Lance's job would be focusing on their tail and making sure no one snuck up behind them so he'd angled himself, walking almost sideways so he could keep Shiro and the prince in sight while also having a decent view of the tunnel behind them. The energy around the group was tense, as it always was on a mission, but not tense enough that Lance should've been worrying. However, it didn't take long for his gut to start telling him that something was going to go wrong, that this was too easy. Lance focused on ignoring that feeling as they continued but he couldn't help but notice how much stronger it grew with each step.

* * *

They were maybe three-quarters of the way back to where they'd entered the caves when Lance's gut feeling proved itself right. He'd just happened to glance down a tunnel the rest of them had passed when he spotted the Galran soldier aiming his blaster at him. "Shit!" Lance swore, swinging his own rifle around and lining the soldier up before he fired a shot a split second before the Galran did. Lance's energy shot hit true, dropping the Galran where he had stood but the Galran's shot had gone wide, hitting the roof of the cave system above Lance.

"Lance!" Shiro called, having spun when Lance had sworn just in time to witness Lance fire his rifle and see how close the Galran had been to hitting his teammate.

"I'm fine!" Lance told him as he straightened from where he'd thrown himself after firing his shot. His blue eyes widened when he saw dozens of Galran soldiers callously step over the body of their fallen comrade as they raced for him. "Move!" he shouted, getting to his feet, bayard still in his grip and racing for his team. "There's more Galrans coming!"

None of them hesitated to follow his order, especially not when the cave system trembled violently, sending the Yal equivalent of dust and small clumps of Yal dirt cascading down on them. Hunk and Pidge were still in the lead, Pidge calling out rapid directions as she led them through the tunnels while Hunk focused on rapidly clearing each new tunnel. The prince was still in between Hunk, Pidge and Lance, with Shiro – who was also rapidly bringing Allura up to speed on everything – next to him while Lance brought up the rear, pausing at every turn to check on how far away the Galrans were and to fire off a shot or two if he could risk it.

The Galrans were firing at the group, seemingly without a care to their surrounds and Lance counted them lucky that a stray shot hadn't clipped one of them yet. However, Lance knew he wasn't the only one to notice how each shot from the Galrans were causing increasingly severe tremors to make their way through the tunnel systems. The debris falling down on them was steadily growing larger and Lance knew they weren't going to make it out of the tunnels at this rate without either stopping the Galran from causing a cave-in or finding a shortcut they hadn't noticed.

"Left!" Pidge instructed and Lance spun on his heel, firing three shots, and hoping they all found a mark before he followed Pidge's direction.

A purple Galran shot hit the top corner of the tunnel Lance had just ducked around and it seemed that was the last shot the cave systems could take. It shuddered so violently that Lance would swear that he saw the walls ripple when asked later. Chunks the size of basketballs started falling from the ceiling of the tunnels, barely missing the five of them as they tried dodging them. The prince was still running but it was obvious he was no longer focused on staying with the group and was now running purely for his own survival. The four Paladins struggled to keep pace with him while Pidge kept shouting instructions, trying her best to lead them through the save system as safely and quickly as possible.

Almost like a bad dream, both Hunk and Shiro were struck almost simultaneously by falling chunks of ceiling, sending them both crashing to the ground. Lance immediately stopped, having been behind them but the prince didn't. Pidge paused, looking in horror at her fallen teammates then at Lance himself. "Go! Make sure he gets out!" Lance ordered, silently cursing the prince for his cowardice. "Come back and help us once the tremors have stopped! We'll be fine!" he told her.

It was obvious she didn't want to but she didn't hesitate longer than a heartbeat, turning to flee after the prince. _"If you aren't alive when I come back for you, I'll make you regret it,"_ Pidge growled through her comms, making Lance chuckle.

"I know you will," he said as he checked on Hunk, who only had an injured shoulder, thankfully. "Stay safe," he said before he turned his attention to Shiro, who hadn't moved since he was hit. "Shit, Hunk, he's been knocked out," Lance said once he was next to their leader.

"What do we do, Lance?" Hunk asked as he got to his feet and stumbled towards them, gripping his now useless arm to hold it steady against his side so it wasn't hurting as much.

"Get him up," Lance said as he grabbed his bayard. The ceiling was still coming down around them and the Galrans were still after them, thankfully slowed by the caving ceiling but Lance could hear them getting closer.

Hunk moved so he could hoist Shiro half over his good shoulder while Lance took the rest of Shiro's weight on his other side. "Lance, we won't make it out carrying him and I can't help defend us," Hunk pointed out.

"I know," Lance told him, "that's why we're not going for the exit," he revealed before nodding his head towards the dead-end cave a few feet away. "We'll take cover in there," Lance said. "I need to check you and Shiro over before we go too far and I'll be able to protect us a lot easier if I'm not worried about watching my back," he explained.

"Got it," Hunk said as he helped drag Shiro towards the cave Lance had gestured to while they tried to dodge the falling chunks of roof as best they could.

Hunk yelped when a bolt of purple energy hit the wall where his head had only been a second ago. Lance fired a retaliatory shot without looking and, from the grunt of pain, knew he'd hit someone just as they entered the cave. Lance immediately ducked out from underneath Shiro, leaving Hunk to take all of his weight as he headed back for the mouth of the cave and unleashed his irritation and fear on the Galrans approaching them. Every shot hit some part of a Galran, killing or crippling depending on where it landed but it was enough for the remaining Galran to retreat down another tunnel so they had some cover.

"Hunk, I have a bad idea that could end being a good idea," Lance said as he waited patiently at the mouth of the cave, firing a shot any time he saw a fluffy purple head poke out of the Galrans hiding place.

"What is it?" Hunk asked as he watched his friend take another shot.

"Our cave isn't filling with debris," Lance pointed out. "What if I caused a cave in and blocked us in?"

"You're right," Hunk said, eyes filling with fear. "That could be either really bad or really good," he told him.

"I know. That's why I'm asking the smartest person I know for their opinion," Lance told him, shooting again as he waited for Hunk to answer him.

"It could work," Hunk admitted. "If you can get it to cave in, it might even stop the rest of the tremors," he told him. "You need to find the weakest spots above the cave mouth and take them out and you'll need to do it fairly quickly or else it won't cave in properly," Hunk warned him.

"Alright, get the space glowsticks out of yours and Shiro's emergency kits and let me know when they're set up," Lance instructed, not budging from his spot, even when a brave Galran soldier took a shot at him that ultimately missed.

Lance could hear Hunk shuffling around, letting out small grunts of pain when he moved his injured shoulder wrong. Another Galran fired at Lance, this time grazing his left arm but Lance bit down the pained noise in his throat and fired back, taking the Galran down by a shot to the throat. There was the telltale snap as Hunk activated the glowstick just before the Yellow Paladin told him he was ready. Lance took two steps backwards into the cave and looked up.

"Yellow?" Lance called as he looked at the roof and felt the Yellow Lion respond, telling him where to aim. He didn't hesitate to follow her instructions and fired a total of six shots, two in three spots as quickly as he could.

The cave trembled enough that Lance nearly lost his balance and for a moment, he was scared it hadn't worked. But just as the first Galran came into Lance's sight, the ceiling above him caved inwards, crushing him before Lance could fire. Rocks tumbled in front of Lance, rapidly stacking upon themselves as Lance headed for Hunk and Shiro. Summoning his shield, Lance placed it in front of himself while he knelt with his injured teammates at his back in an effort to protect them from any rocks that tumbled too far into their cave, as he prayed he hadn't just gotten them killed.

* * *

Neither Hunk nor Lance moved for nearly two full minutes after the last rock fell, blocking them in from the tunnel system they'd just been fighting the Galra in. The glowstick Hunk had cracked was extremely powerful, managing to light the cave up well enough that Lance didn't need to rely on his helmet's night vision to make anything out.

"I think we're good," Hunk said, breaking the silence and Lance nodded.

"I think so too," he agreed, relaxing out of his kneeling position, groaning as his muscles and his injured left arm protested the movement. "How are you?" Lance asked as he turned his shield off and turned to the two teammates he was trapped with.

"I won't lie," Hunk said, "I could go for a pod right about now," he admitted, chuckling lightly as Lance winced in sympathy.

"Shiro didn't show any signs of regaining consciousness while everything was happening?" Lance asked, scooching himself closer to them.

"Not that I noticed," Hunk told him, mimicking Lance's concerned frown. "That's a bad thing, isn't it? Him being unconscious for this long?" he asked, worry drenching his voice.

"Well, ideally I'd prefer him to have only been unconscious for a moment or two but, no, it's not inherently a bad thing that he hasn't come too yet," Lance told him. "The fact that he's been knocked unconscious despite his helmet tells me that he was either hit really hard, by something very heavy or both," Lance explained to Hunk. "Those alone are reason enough for him to still be out of it," he told his friend.

His words had the intended effect and Hunk relaxed slightly. "Oh. That's alright," he said, sighing slightly. His relaxed slump lasted only two seconds before he shot up straight, a look of panic on his face. "Pidge! The prince!" he exclaimed, looking at the caved in entrance with horror.

"They're fine," Lance told him, immediately getting Hunk's attention. "The prince took off when the two of you went down. I ordered Pidge to follow him and make sure he made it out of the caves," he said. "Once he is safe and Pidge thinks it's safe for her to do so, she'll come back for us," he added.

"Oh good," Hunk sighed, slumping in on himself again, hissing when he accidentally jostled his shoulder by doing so.

"I'll check on you in a minute," Lance promised as he materialised his medkit. "I need to make sure Shiro is definitely okay first," he said apologetically but Hunk waved the unspoken apology off.

"How are you going to do that without taking his helmet off? Coran said the air is too rich in oxygen for us," Hunk reminded him.

"I'm gonna have to raise his visor for a few moments," Lance told him. "I haven't read much about oxygen toxicity but I think you need to be exposed to oxygen-rich environments for longer than a few seconds for it to affect you," he said, a little unsure.

Hunk noticed his hesitation. "He'll be alright," Hunk said, gripping Lance's forearm reassuringly. "I think you're right and he'd have to be exposed to the high concentrations of oxygen for longer than a few seconds," Hunk said, voice filled with conviction.

Bolstered by his best friend's words, Lance nodded. "Alright," he said, more to himself than to Hunk. He undid his medkit and searched through it before coming up with a thin, pencil-like object. Hunk made a questioning noise at the device, not having recognised it and Lance held it up for him to inspect. "It's a small but powerful torch. I can use it to check that Shiro's pupils are reacting properly to light. If they are, it means he's more than likely going to be fine," Lance explained.

"Oh, cool," Hunk said, curiousity satisfied now.

Lance gave him a grin before he twisted the torch, turning it on. "Here we go," Lance whispered before he placed his hand on the small divot on the side of Shiro's helmet that would retract or deploy his visor. The clear shield quickly retracted and Lance moved into action. Pulling one eyelid up gently, Lance checked his pupil's reaction swiftly before moving on to the other eye. Once done, he reactivated Shiro's visor, breathing in relief when it moved back into place.

"So?" Hunk asked impatiently.

"His eyes reacted to the light and lack of it so that's good," Lance said, giving Hunk a relieved smile that the Yellow Paladin returned. "I just wish I could –" Lance cut himself off as a thought occurred to him. "Oh, I'm an idiot," he said. Hunk made a protesting noise but Lance ignored him as he concentrated on his bonds. "Black? Is your pilot okay?" he asked the Black Lion.

" _He's about as well as any human can be while unconscious,"_ Black told him, a touch dryly. _"He isn't in any immediate danger if he doesn't get treatment right away,"_ she assured him.

"Thanks, Black," Lance said, feeling his worries recede a little. "She says he'll be alright," he told Hunk, who also relaxed immensely at the news. "Your turn to be checked," he told him. "Let's get your armour off that shoulder and arm so I can inspect it," he said, reaching out to help him do so and wincing when the movement pulled on his injury. Unfortunately for him, Hunk noticed.

"You're injured?!" the Yellow pilot cried out.

"Only a little," Lance told him. Hunk raised a disbelieving brow. "Seriously, it's just a graze. I woulda asked you to look at once I had you and Shiro patched up," Lance told him, somewhat honestly. Hunk still didn't look like he believed him and Lance knew he should be more offended than he actually was but decided to ignore it for the moment. "Come on, let's check your shoulder," Lance said, trying to move Hunk's focus once more.

"You had better let me check your arm after this," Hunk said, pointing a threatening finger at Lance and only stopping when Lance nodded in agreement. "Have you spoken to Pidge or Allura yet?" Hunk asked as he and Lance worked together to get the armour plates that would be in Lance's way off.

"Not yet," Lance told him. "I'm waiting for Green to tell me that Pidge made it out of the system safely before I talk to her. I don't want to distract her if she's still trying to get the prince to safety," Lance said. "I was going to contact Allura once your shoulder has been looked at," he added, before Hunk could question him once more.

"Alright," Hunk said as they worked together to peel his undersuit off his shoulder. Both of them winced when they saw the damage. "No wonder it hurts," Hunk said, sounding a little faint as he looked down at the bruised and grazed mess that was his shoulder.

Lance was quick to get the disinfectant and, after apologizing, applied it to the grazes and cleaned the wound out, doing his best to ignore Hunk's pained hisses. "Sorry but it's all done now," Lance said, wiping down the last spot of scraped skin before he threw the dirty wipe away. "I've got some anti-bruise spray, some speedy heal goop and some numbing goop. You good for me to use all three on you?" Lance asked.

"As long as there's enough for you to use," Hunk said, brow raised in a way that dared Lance to try and lie to him.

"There will be," Lance promised him. "I just wish I'd thought to pack a portable scanner in the medkits. I'd have had to make the medkits bigger but at least I'd know if you've broken something," Lance said, frowning at the injury. It _looked_ nasty enough that Lance suspected Hunk had at least fractured something but then again, it was possible that Hunk's undersuit and parts of armour that were hit took enough of the blow that nothing was broken or fractured.

"It doesn't feel bad enough that I'd think something was broken," Hunk told him honestly, "and I can move it without too much resistance," he added.

His words didn't seem to completely soothe Lance's worries but his friend did relax a little before he nodded. "Alright," he said. "I'll apply the numbing goop first," Lance told him, scooping a decent sized glob of it before he applied it to the injury, carefully rubbing it into the wound.

It only took a few seconds for Hunk to start feeling the effect of the goop. "Oh my gods, that feels so much better," he moaned as the pain ebbed away from his shoulder, causing him to slump slightly. "When we get back to Earth, we're gonna make scientists figure this stuff out," Hunk told Lance seriously.

"Absolutely," Lance said, giving Hunk a grin as he poked the wound lightly. When his best friend didn't even flinch, Lance knew it had taken effect completely. "Alright, anti-bruise spray first then speedy heal," Lance told him, grabbing the small spray bottle, and covering his friend's shoulder in a fine mist of the contents. It only took the amount of time Lance needed to put the spray bottle back in the medkit and to get the speedy heal goop out and open for the spray on Hunk's shoulder to be absorbed into his skin. "And finally, speedy heal goop!" Lance told him, massaging the substance into Hunk's shoulder, making sure he covered each graze with it.

"All done?" Hunk asked when Lance stopped and the brunette nodded.

"All done," he told him, wiping his fingers off with a clean wipe. "Just have to wait for the speedy heal goop to dry before we put your arm back in the undersuit and get your armour back on," Lance told him, packing his supplies back up so they weren't everywhere. "While we do, I'm gonna –" he cut himself off when he felt Green press up against his mind, making him change his mind on what they were going to do. "I'm gonna contact Pidge," Lance said before Hunk could question his pause.

"Green told you?" Hunk asked and Lance gave him a nod.

"Pidge?" Lance called through their helmet comms.

" _Lance!"_ Pidge's voice was relieved and tense at the same time. _"Are you guys okay?"_ she asked.

"We're fine. We ended up trapped in a cave but it seems like the tunnels have stopped threatened to collapse in on themselves," Lance told her. "Shiro's unconscious and Hunk has an injured shoulder but other than that, we got out unscathed," he said, knowing her next question would likely be about the two of them. "Did you and the prince get out safely?"

" _Yeah, we did,"_ Pidge told him. _"The Yalegs were happy to see him and he seems happy to see them as well,"_ she reported. _"I told the Yalegs you were still in the tunnels and have been trapped in a cave. They're going to come in and help dig you out. They've asked me to stay out here to act as a guard for the prince and the two Yalegs who will stay with him,"_ she reported.

"Good, we'd appreciate the help," Lance told her. "Stay there and guard the prince. I know some of the Galra survived the collapse and I really don't want to report to Allura that the prince was kidnapped again because someone wasn't guarding him," Lance said.

There was a crackling noise as Pidge let out a sigh of frustration and annoyance. _"Alright, Lance,"_ she agreed after a moment. _"The Yalegs shouldn't take too long to find you. They know about the Galrans and that they might still be alive so it might take them a while to get to you as they'll have to be cautious,"_ Pidge told him.

"That's fine," Lance said just as an idea came to him. "Which Lion is closest to you and the aliens?" he asked.

" _Blue. Why?"_ she asked curiously.

"Blue's gonna open her shield a little so you guys can get through it. She'll close it up behind you and she'll let you out if you need to be for any reason, Pidge," Lance told her, mentally pleading with his Lion to do so. Blue wasn't happy about guarding the prince who had abandoned her human and his friends in the cave system but she did begrudgingly do as he asked.

" _Thanks, Lance,"_ Pidge said gratefully. _"I'll keep an eye out for any approaching Galrans as well. I wouldn't bet that the ones in the caves haven't managed to get a message to the rest of their fleet about the Paladins of Voltron being here,"_ Pidge said pessimistically and Lance couldn't find it in himself to try and be optimistic.

"Let me know if you spot any fighters and how many there are if we aren't out by then," Lance ordered.

" _Will do,"_ Pidge said easily. _"The Yalegs won't be long,"_ she promised him. _"Just be patient,"_ she said and Lance could hear the smirk in her voice. He wasn't one to like sitting still in dangerous situations unless he was peering through his sniper rifle's scope and they all knew it.

"I'll do my best," Lance said flatly. "Don't kill the prince. It's our job to keep him safe," he told her, knowing from the annoyance in her voice earlier that Pidge wasn't overly impressed with him.

" _I'll try,"_ she said before they signed off so Lance could contact Allura.

"I wanna check your arm first," Hunk told him once Lance had said goodbye to Pidge.

"Alright," Lance said, knowing there was no point in arguing. "I'll talk to Allura while you're doing that," he told him, trusting Hunk would be able to treat his injury without much input from him. Hunk had gotten the same quick rundown on their medkits and what they contained as the others did when Lance had put together new ones for them. Hunk gave him a nod before he got to work removing the armour plating that covered his arm. "Allura? Can you hear me?" Lance called through to the Castle-Ship's comms.

" _Lance! What happened? The Castle's scanners are only picking up Pidge's tracker and signature,"_ Allura said, sounding relieved at hearing from him and confused about where he and the others were.

"The Galrans found us while we were escorting the prince out of the caves," Lance told her. "A few of their shots hit weak points in the tunnels and almost caused them to collapse completely. Hunk and Shiro were injured during our escape and we ended up in a cave where I caused a collapse to cut us off from the Galrans after us. The prince took off and I ordered Pidge to go after him," Lance reported.

" _Are the three of you alright? Coran cannot use your uniforms to get medical scans,"_ Allura told him.

"Hunk has an injured shoulder and Shiro's been knocked out but Black says he's fine," Lance reported, hissing when his undersuit had to be gently peeled from the injury. Hunk grimaced apologetically but didn't stop what he was doing. "I got nicked by a shot and it looks like a mix between a cut and a burn," Lance told her before she could ask. "Hunk's patching it up but it's nothing," he said.

His comms crackled again as Allura sighed. _"Thank goodness it was nothing more serious for any of you,"_ she said, sounding relieved. _"What is your plan, Lance?"_ Allura asked, her tone similar to what she would've used for a mission report.

"Pidge told me the Yalegs have put together a rescue team to help dig us out but it might take them a while since I'm sure there are still some surviving Galrans in here," Lance told her. "Pidge will keep an eye on the prince and wait there unless something happens and we need her in here," he said. "Aside from that I don't –" he stopped speaking abruptly, head snapping to the side to watch the rock-filled mouth of the cave.

" _Lance?"_ Allura called, voice filled with concern.

"Silence on the comms," Lance whispered, gesturing to Hunk to stop what he was doing as he focused his hearing on the rocks. He could've sworn he'd heard something while he was talking to Allura but after a tense few seconds where no one so much as breathed, Lance was about to laugh it off as his imagination only for it to happen again. Looking over at Hunk, it was obvious he had heard the soft scraping noise as well. "Do you think it's the Yalegs?" Lance asked.

"I-I don't know," Hunk admitted. "Pidge said they entered the cave system a few minutes ago. Could they have reached us in that time?" he asked but all Lance could do was shrug his shoulder.

" _Report,"_ came the barked order from Allura, causing Lance to flinch since he'd forgotten she was even there.

"We can hear something shifting on the other side of the rocks," Lance told her. "Either the Yalegs are there already or the Galrans are trying to dig us out to deal with us or its just some shifting rocks," Lance said. "We can't tell which it is though."

" _The Yalegs are a swift species,"_ Allura said but Lance could tell from her voice that she wasn't entirely confident in it being the Yalegs on the other side of the rocks.

"Well, let's hope it's them because we can't really do anything to stop whoever it is from getting in here," Lance pointed out rather pessimistically.

"Uh, funny thing," Hunk said, chuckling lightly and getting Lance's entire attention. "So Pidge and I might have been working on some small but powerful explosive devices ever since the explosion on that not-so-abandoned Galra base and we might have been carrying them around on missions in case we get in a situation where we can test them?" he told Lance, whose mouth was widening further in disbelief with every word that came out of Hunk's.

"You just _happened_ to be carrying around experimental explosives in case this kind of situation happened?" Lance asked, voice dripping in disbelief.

"Yeah?" Hunk said, squirming a little. "I mean, it's not like we could test them on the Castle since both Allura and Coran would murder us and Shiro would give us the disappointed dad look if we blew a hole in the Castle-Ship," Hunk said defensively.

There was a small hum on the other end of the comms, telling them that Allura and/or Coran had overhead them and agreed with Hunk. Lance ignored it for the moment. "What will happen if we use them?" he asked. "How big should the explosion be?"

Hunk contemplated for a few moments. "Well, since these are our testers, it shouldn't be so powerful that we would be hurt by it at the other end of the cave," he told Lance. "If we can somehow construct a buffer between us and the explosion, it'll force the energy outwards and add to the destruction done to the rocks. Between it and the rocks, whoever's on the other side will be severely injured, if not outright killed," Hunk told him, wincing slightly at how blunt he sounded.

"I might be able to create an ice shield that'll protect us," Lance said, feeling Blue's ice run through his veins as the power made itself ready for him to call upon it. "I just – what if it is the Yalegs out there?" Lance asked, casting the caved in entrance a conflicted look. "Allura, I need your help. What should I do?" he asked.

" _Lance, I can't tell you what to do here,"_ Allura told him, her voice filled with guilt and regret. They all knew how much Lance struggled with asking for help and while she was immensely proud of him for doing so, she really couldn't make this decision for him and it hurt her to tell him so. She hated not being able to aide any of her Paladins, especially in the kind of situation where lives were at risk. _"You need to decide this for yourself. What are the risks of you choosing not to use Hunk's explosives?"_ she asked, trying to offer him what help she could.

"We risk the Galrans being the ones digging through the rubble and getting to us," Lance said, voicing the obvious first. He didn't even notice Hunk returning back to treating his arm. "We risk being captured or killed by them because we're backed in a corner and Shiro can't defend himself," he told her. "We risk the Galrans firing more shots in this cave and causing another cave in but one that'll actually bury us instead of separating us from them," he said.

" _Alright. What do you risk by using the explosives?"_ she asked, not offering her opinion on what he'd just told her.

"We could hurt our ally if they're the ones trying to dig us out," Lance said immediately, flinching when Hunk applied the numbing cream with a little less gentleness than he should've. "We risk upsetting them and losing an alliance with them and perhaps the Sentilles since they're friends," he said. "We could also get ourselves hurt more if Hunk's mistaken about the potency of the explosives or if my shield isn't enough to protect us," Lance told her. "We could also risk another, worse cave in if the explosives are too powerful," he finished.

" _Now what could you gain by using the explosives?"_ Allura asked calmly.

Lance screwed up his face in thought, ignoring the ever-increasing sounds of the rubble being shifted. "If it's the Galrans on the other side, we'd manage to take out a few of them, making our escape easier. We'd be able to get out of this cave and back to the Lions. Shiro and Hunk can go into a pod like they need to so they can be healed. We lessen the risk of being captured by the Galrans if we strike them first and we might be able to deal with them before the Yalegs have to," he told her.

" _Now you need to weigh the pros and cons and decide for yourself how you should proceed,"_ Allura told him gently. _"You are the team leader right now. You need to do what is best for you, your team, and our allies and only you know everything you need to in order to make this decision,"_ she told him. _"I have every faith that you'll make the right one,"_ she said, her voice warm and full of conviction.

"How certain are you about the potency of those explosives?" Lance asked Hunk after a few moments of contemplation.

Hunk finished wrapping Lance's arm, tapping the bandage end so it melted into the rest of the bandage to keep it secure. "I'm positive they aren't powerful enough to cause more damage to the tunnels or us," Hunk told him seriously.

"Get them out," Lance ordered, pulling his undersuit back on over his arm and securing his armour. "We're blowing it," Lance told him as he finished getting his armour back on.

Hunk's eyes widened but he hurried to do as he was told. "Are you sure?" Hunk couldn't stop the question before he asked it but Lance nodded.

"I don't think the Yalegs could get here so quickly so I'm putting my money on it being the Galra," Lance told him as he packed up and secured his medkit. "You need to tell me how to arm the explosives so I can place them. While I'm doing that, I need you to move Shiro further back and get your shield ready," Lance instructed him. "I'll still create an ice shield but it's better safe than sorry," he commented.

Hunk nodded as he dug through his small rations pack, kept in the armour on his right arm. He pulled out four small tube-shaped objects that were no bigger than a cigarette and maybe twice as thick as one. "Just put these in the rubble," Hunk instructed, handing them over to Lance. "They're remote detonated," Hunk explained, waving a small white device that he carefully placed next to him so he could put his rations pack away without accidentally setting them off.

"Got it," Lance said, scrambling to his feet. "Allura? We're gonna blow the rubble out," he told her.

" _I'll let Pidge know so she doesn't panic when she hears the explosion,"_ Allura said, causing Lance to wince guiltily since he hadn't even thought of letting his youngest teammate know. _"I expect to see your signals on the scanner shortly,"_ she informed him.

"That's the plan," he told her before cutting the comms as he approached the rubble. Now that he was closer, he could hear the noise of rocks being shifted a lot clearer. There were some muffled grunts but Lance still couldn't tell whether it was the Galrans or Yalegs on the other side. Praying he was right, Lance placed the small explosive devices as far as he could into the rubble, spacing them so they'd get the maximum effect. "Blue!" he called as he backed away from the rubble and felt his Lion's power come to his aide.

Aiming for the ground, Lance allowed the ice to flow from him as he controlled it, building it up upon itself. Soon enough, he had an ice wall that stretched from on side of the cave to three quarters across the floor, reaching all the way up to the ceiling. Cutting off the power, Lance stumbled slightly from the exhaustion that always accompanied his using Blue's ability before he made his way over to where Hunk had moved Shiro. The Yellow Paladin had the Black one resting against his side with his shield activated and held over them both to protect them from any debris that might fall from the roof. Lance positioned himself on Shiro's other side and activated his shield, putting it directly in front of them so that it would stop any shards of ice or rock from hitting them.

"Ready," Lance said, giving Hunk a nod as he braced himself.

Hunk didn't hesitate to press the small button that Lance hadn't even noticed on the device. For a few seconds, nothing happened and Lance gave Hunk a questioning look that the Yellow Paladin responded to by shrugging his shoulders. However, before either of them could move, the white device in Hunk's hand beeped and the rubble blocking their way out exploded, shaking the cave they were in and causing them to be showered in dust and small chunks of dirt. The ice shield Lance had constructed worked to buffer most of the explosion to it rebounded and added to the destructive forces of the original explosion but the ice couldn't withstand all of it. Lance's shield deflected most of the ice shards that flew at them and what did manage to get through bounced off their armour harmlessly.

Before the dust even cleared, Lance was up, shield deactivated and armed with his bayard. Moving rapidly forward, Lance sighted down his barrel and fired two shots at figures he saw moving within in the dust. Hunk had Shiro thrown over his uninjured shoulder and was following close behind Lance, though he had his shield still activated since he couldn't use his bayard one-handed. To Lance's immense relief, the dust cleared to reveal Galran bodies, not Yalegs. Nodding for Hunk to take the lead, Lance covered their backs, firing at the remaining few Galrans as they headed towards the exit. Hunk was having to move slower a little more than he usually would've so that he could keep Shiro steady while he checked his map but Lance didn't call him out on it since he preferred it if they got out in on piece, even if it took them a little longer.

* * *

About halfway to the exit, Lance heard a small groan than a confused mutter. "Shiro's waking up," Hunk told him, confirming what Lance had first thought.

"About time," Lance said, though his voice almost cracked with relief. He glanced down the tunnel and fired twice, taking down two more Galrans before he nodded to Hunk. "Set him down and see if he's gonna wake up completely. I'll keep us covered," Lance told him, taking a knee, and bolstering himself against the corner of the tunnel Hunk and Shiro had turned into.

Hunk did as he was told and gently placed Shiro so he was sitting on the ground. "Shiro? Buddy? Are you with us?" Hunk asked, shaking his shoulder gently.

It took almost half a minute and two more shots from Lance before Shiro answered Hunk. "Wha's goin' on?" he asked, voice slurring slightly as he blinked himself further into consciousness. "Hunk?" Shiro rasped, having recognised who was in front of him.

"The one and only," Hunk confirmed. "Dude, you had us worried!" he exclaimed, voice and face filled with relief.

"Sorry?" came the confused apology, causing both Lance and Hunk to chuckle slightly. "What's going on?" Shiro asked again, sounding much clearer.

"The tunnel started collapsing on our way out because of the Galrans," Hunk recounted. "You and I were hit by some big chunks of cave and you were knocked out. We'll happily give you the full report later but we need to keep moving," Hunk told him.

The sound of Lance's rifle brought Shiro's attention to the Blue Paladin and gave him further clues about what was currently happening. "Alright," Shiro said, biting back his curiousity. "What are we doing now?" he asked instead.

"Lance is covering our retreat and we are getting back to the Lions," Hunk told him. "Can you walk?" he asked.

"I think so," Shiro said as he tried getting to his feet. He almost went down again but Hunk managed to catch him by his elbow. It took a few moments of steadying but Shiro finally nodded. "Yeah, I'm good," he told him, nodding in agreement with his own words.

"You sure?" Lance asked, looking back momentarily to judge for himself. A shot from a Galran hit the wall of the tunnel Lance was using as cover, causing Hunk and Shiro to call out his name with concern. Lance growled in annoyance and fired back twice, getting the Galran who had shot at him and the one who was next to him. "Shiro?" Lance asked, making the man jolt.

"Yeah, I'm sure," Shiro said, his eyes still full of worry.

"Good because we need to move again," Lance told him, firing another round down the tunnel. "Hunk, lead us out," Lance ordered.

"You got it. Come on, Shiro," Hunk said, gently tugging the Black Paladin to follow him while Lance kept their tail covered.

They continued towards the exit in that fashion: Hunk leading, Shiro in between them and Lance covering the rear. Lance only had to fire another five times in the time it took them to reach the exit, having caught up with the Yalegs who made up their rescue party only a minute or so after Shiro had regained consciousness. Once they had them leading the way out, Lance had Hunk drop back to join him in covering them, leaving Shiro to walk with the Yalegs, who were chattering excitedly about how relieved they were that the three of them were alright and how thankful they were that they'd managed to save the prince, which was welcome news to Shiro.

" _Lance, I don't know if you can still hear me but you have incoming,"_ came the warning from Allura the moment the exit was in sight.

Lance swore harshly. "We have Galrans heading for us," Lance repeated the warning to the others.

"Let's get back to the Lions," Shiro said, voice filled with the familiar determination it always was when they were about to undertake another mission.

"You aren't flying Black with your head injury!" Lance snapped. "We don't know what kind of damage you took! I couldn't scan you and Coran couldn't use your armour to do so either!" he told him as they and the Yalegs raced for the exit, Lance and Hunk not bothering to keep an eye on their backs now that they had more important things to deal with.

"Lance, I'm well enough to fly," Shiro told him, making the mistake of glancing back and locking eyes with furious blue of Lance's. "Coran can scan me using my armour now, alright? If he says I shouldn't risk fighting alongside you, I'll take Black back to the Castle-Ship," he offered, wanting to offer some sort of compromise so Lance would look less like he was about to ask Black to refuse to let Shiro pilot her.

"Fine," Lance snarled as they broke through into the sunlight. "Coran, run a scan on Shiro's uniform. Tell me if he shouldn't be flying and fighting," Lance requested, making sure his annoyance didn't bleed through his voice to Coran since it wasn't his fault Shiro was being stubborn.

" _Commencing scan,"_ Coran told him. Lance looked up at the sky to find at least two dozen Galran fighters on their way to them. _"He has a concussion but it's not severe enough for me to recommend he sit this one out,"_ Coran said and Lance gave a nod.

"What about Hunk's shoulder? Are there any breaks?" Lance asked.

It took a few moments, just enough time for Blue to release Pidge and the three aliens with her from her shielding so the young girl could join back up with them. _"No, no breaks evident. He should still go in a cryopod but I'll check again myself when he's back at the Castle-Ship,"_ Coran told him.

"Coran gave you both the go-ahead," Lance said, his annoyance at letting them both fly while injured still evident in his voice. "Try not to jostle your shoulder too much, Hunk. The numbing goop won't last much longer," Lance warned him.

"Got it," Hunk said.

"Shiro, you'll be covering me and Hunk will be covering Pidge _and_ ," Lance said, stressing the word before anyone could offer an argument, "if I have any arguments, I'll ask Yellow and Black to take you both back to the Castle, whether we're done fighting or not," he threatened. From the way Hunk and Shiro stiffened slightly, Lance knew the two aforementioned Lions were backing him up. "You can still call orders without being in front of us," Lance told Shiro, obviously thinking Shiro had opened his mouth to protest.

"Actually, I was going to say that you'll take point for this mission," Shiro said, a smile tugging at his lips when Lance's mouth gaped open in surprise. "I shouldn't be calling orders when I have a concussion and you've got a great strategic mind," Shiro told him, clapping him on the shoulder.

"Alright," Lance said, thanking the stars when no one commented on how weak his voice sounded. "Get to your Lions. I'll join you in a minute," Lance ordered, turning to the gathered Yalegs. The three Paladins took off for their Lions without hesitation, Shiro moving a touch slower than he usually did but Lance refused to worry about it. Coran had given him the go-ahead and Shiro knew his limits. "I need you to take the prince and get yourselves to safety," Lance said, addressing the one Shiro had been talking with before they'd entered the cave system. "If you require aide in taking the prince back to his home planet, contact Princess Allura. She'll have one of us assist you," Lance told them.

"Thank you for your aide, Blue Paladin," the leader said. "We will be in contact with Princess Allura once we're safely home. I pray this fight sees you and you team as the victors without any further injuries to yourselves," they said, bowing slightly.

"Thank you," Lance said, bowing back. "Stay safe," he told them before he raced for Blue, who now had her shield completely down and head lowered so he could enter the cockpit quicker. He barely noticed the Yalegs leading the prince away from them and towards the small civilisation Lance had noticed when they arrived. "Thanks, beautiful," Lance said as he got himself in the pilot's chair and clicked his harness in place.

" _Ready in Yellow,"_ came the call from Hunk and Lance nodded to Hunk once his face lit up one quarter of the screen to his left. Pidge and Shiro were quick to join Hunk's image while the last quarter stayed blank since Keith wasn't there fighting alongside them in Red.

"Let's get this done," Lance said, his order echoed by his Lion's roar. He felt the familiar adrenaline rush flood his body as Blue launched into the air, quickly joined by her sisters. As Lance had ordered on the ground, Pidge and Hunk split off, Hunk providing her cover while Shiro stayed on his six, laying down cover fire for him. They met the Galran fighters just as they entered Yal's atmosphere and Lance almost scoffed at how few there were. "It'll take more than a couple dozen fighters to take us down, hey, gorgeous?" Lance said through their bond. He felt Blue's purr of agreement and determination as they fired their first shot at the closest fighter and watched it go down in a small explosion. It took him until the third fighter was destroyed by them and calling out orders to his team for Lance to realise that the bad feeling that had plagued him earlier had disappeared entirely.

* * *

"It'll only take half a varga for them to both be fully healed," Coran cheerfully told Lance, pressing a final button on Shiro's cryopod so that it would send an alert to Coran's tablet when Shiro was fully healed.

"Awesome," Lance said, watching both frosted over pods with relief. "I'm just glad the battle didn't aggravate their injuries any further," he told Coran as they headed out of the medbay.

"As am I, my boy!" Coran told him. "How's your arm?" he asked and Lance jolted as he realised he'd forgotten completely about his own injury.

"Honestly, I forgot I was even hurt," Lance admitted. "It feels fine. Hunk did a fairly good job patching me up. You can check it if you want after I've gotten changed out of my uniform though," Lance offered.

Coran shook his head. "No, I trust you'll keep it clean so it heals. Your scan didn't indicate that it was anything too severe," Coran said.

"The shot that got me really did only graze me. I'll probably get a scar out of it but what else is new?" Lance joked.

"Lance! There you are!" Allura's voice cut off whatever Coran had been about to say and both men looked over to find Allura striding towards them.

Now that the battle was over and she didn't need to converse with the Yalegs over video anymore as they'd turned down Voltron's aide in returning the prince to his home planet, she'd put on the sweater Lance had knitted for her, something that never failed to make Lance feel a little happier. Despite Coran's assurances he hadn't, Lance had still feared he'd overstepped some boundary when he'd left the knitted gift in Allura's room with a note explaining who it was from and why he'd made it for her. It took the combined efforts of Blue and the mice to stop Lance from going back into her room and taking it back before she found it. The anxiety that he'd screwed up or somehow insulted Allura by giving it to her had eaten away at him until she'd found him that night, wearing the sweater and wrapping him in a hug tight enough that Lance was sure he'd suffocate from it.

Allura had loved the sweater and Lance's thoughtfulness so much that she wore it every chance she had, with the only exception being outside the Castle-Ship since she was so paranoid about ruining the sweater. Lance's mind was pulled from remembering her reaction to the present by Coran clapping him on the back and he only managed to catch the tail-end of Coran's goodbye. "See you later, Coran!" Lance said, giving the man a grin before he turned to Allura, who had now caught up to them. "What's up, Princess?" he asked.

"Nothing," she told him. "I just wanted to tell you how well you did with handling everything that happened," she said.

Lance felt a small flush rise on his cheeks. "It was no big deal," he said, automatically dismissing the praise. "Thank _you_ for your help back in that cave," Lance said, trying to turn the conversation onto her. "Being able to talk out my options like that and figure out the pros and cons of each decision was extremely helpful so thanks," he said, giving her a big grin.

"I'm glad I could help even a little but you truly showed just how well you were able to step up to the role of leader and take control of the team," Allura said, refusing to let Lance wriggle his way out of being praised like he usually did. "You managed to ensure the primary mission was fulfilled, save two of your teammates and make an exceptionally difficult decision after your team leader had been rendered unconscious. You kept a cool head, you made sure your teammates were calm and you were unafraid to tell Shiro your honest thoughts on him flying Black with a head injury. You proved yourself exceptionally capable as a second-in-command and as a leader, Lance, and I couldn't be prouder of you," Allura told him, eyes softening the more she spoke.

To Lance's embarrassment, his vision started going blurry with unshed tears as he listened to Allura speak. "Thank you, Allura," he said, sniffling slightly as he allowed himself to hear what she was saying and believe it.

Allura didn't bother trying to resist the urge to pull him into a hug. She felt his arms go around her waist to settle on her back as he hugged her just as tightly as she was hugging him. Allura knew how much it meant to Lance to be taken seriously as a Paladin and seen as capable and even though she wished two of her Paladins hadn't been injured on this mission, she couldn't help but feel glad that Lance was given this chance to prove himself. She just knew that this mission would go a long way in proving to Lance that he _did_ belong on the team as much as the others and that he wasn't chosen by mistake.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Allura's chapter for you all! Thank you to lovely person who commented on the last chapter :D I really appreciate it! I hope to hear from everyone who reads this chapter to let me know what they think to this chapter and story so far :D See you all next week!


	6. Chapter 6

Shiro stifled another yawn as he rounded the corner needed to walk down one of the few dimly lit corridors in the Castle-Ship he hadn't patrolled tonight. Woken by yet another nightmare a few vargas ago, Shiro had done what he always did on the occasions he didn't manage to fall back asleep; he patrolled the Castle-Ship. He didn't mind doing it since it was always uneventful – unless Keith hadn't been able to sleep and needed to be dragged out of the training room – and it helped rid him of the lingering fear that he wasn't safe, that his family weren't safe. Black's presence in his mind was always a warm comfort as he walked the silent halls and he'd spent many a varga just speaking with his Lion as he continued on his self-assigned missions.

As he walked past one of the many observation rooms, debating whether it was worth him going to bed when he'd just wake up again in a couple of vargas, movement in the barely lit room caught his attention. His heart leapt into his throat as adrenaline flooded his system at the thought that someone had managed to somehow break into the Castle-Ship before Black managed to calm him down, reassuring him it wasn't an enemy. His panic had only lasted a moment until he took in his Lion's words and the figure silhouetted against the breathtaking view of unknown stars and distant planets that could be seen on the other side of the thick, floor-to-ceiling glass windows.

As Shiro slowly approached the figure, he realised exactly who it was and found himself a little surprised at who it was. "Lance?" Shiro called softly, grimacing in regret as Lance jumped at the noise, having not heard Shiro's approach.

"Shiro? What are you doing up?" Lance asked, turning his body slightly so he could keep the Black Paladin in view without turning his back entirely on the twinkling stars he'd been watching.

"I should be asking you the same thing," Shiro said, raising a brow slightly once he was level with his teammate.

Lance chuckled slightly as he rubbed the back of his neck. "Ah, for some reason I just couldn't get to sleep," Lance told him, a small, sheepish grin on his face. "Back home, if I was getting plenty of sleep every night, I'd have this random night where I just wouldn't be able to sleep and since we haven't had any surprise missions, training or otherwise, that have interrupted my sleep, I guess my brain decided tonight was one of those nights," Lance explained casually. "Since I couldn't sleep, I figured I'd go for a walk and wound up in here. What about you?" Lance asked, paying attention to Shiro once more.

"Nightmare," Shiro said simply. "I couldn't get back to sleep so I decided to do a patrol," he said, not bothering to try and play it off with Lance. The Cuban would've been able to tell, even if he couldn't ask Black whether her human was lying or not.

Lance's face fell with sympathy. "Do you wanna talk about it?" Lance asked, a small amount of caution in his voice. The first time he'd found Shiro after a nightmare soon after they'd left Earth in Blue and had asked him the same question, Shiro had snapped at him. The stress of everything that had happened to him and struggle to adjust to their new normal had pushed Shiro to that point and although he had apologised immediately to Lance and Lance hadn't taken it completely to heart, the memory always replayed vividly every time Lance asked Shiro that same question.

"Honestly, I only remember bits of pieces of it now so no, but thank you, Lance," Shiro said, reaching up to squeeze Lance's upper arm in gratitude.

"Any time, bossman," Lance beamed, not bothering to push the matter since he knew it would do no good and he believed Shiro's words. Lance had caught him out in a lie too many times for him to bother trying anymore. "So have you finished your patrols?" Lance asked after a few moments of comfortable silence.

"Yeah, I think so," Shiro said, knowing it was Lance's subtle way of asking if he was feeling calm and level now or if the nightmare's aftermath was still affecting him. "What about you? Tired enough to go to bed yet?" Shiro asked.

"Nah," came the expected response from Lance.

Shiro could feel the tendrils of sleep creeping up on him but for some reason, he didn't want to leave Lance alone with just the stars and Lions in his mind for company. "Hey, come and sit with me," Shiro said, moving over to a plush couch that sat facing the window to offer whoever sat on it an uninterrupted view of the galaxies, planets and stars that floated outside. Lance looked at him, mildly surprised. "It feels like we haven't been able to speak, just the two of us, for a while," Shiro said in response to the question he knew had to be running through Lance's mind.

The surprise melted off Lance's face as he gave Shiro a small grin before he joined him on the couch, tucking his feet up beside himself. "So what did you wanna talk about, fearless leader?" Lance asked, earning himself a look for the title used from Shiro before the Black Paladin seemed to mull over his options.

"How's your training going with Blue?" he asked, looking at Lance with honest curiousity. Lance's revelation that he could use his Lion's element had spurred the four other Paladins into action so they could catch up with their teammate. So far, Shiro hadn't shown any signs of being able to use Black's element – air – but he couldn't be too annoyed since his bond with Black was growing in leaps and bounds, more than making up for the lack of elemental powers in Shiro's opinion. "We haven't seen you use them during the last couple of training sessions," Shiro said.

"Yeah, they've been going alright," Lance said, though his slightly downcast expression told Shiro a different story. Before Shiro could ask though, Lance nodded slightly before he spoke again. "It's just," Lance paused again as he seemed to try and figure out what he was trying to say. "I'm using the second training room mostly," Lance said and Shiro gave a nod. He'd heard all about Lance and Pidge's time spent fixing up that training room so Lance would have somewhere more suited to practice with his long-range guns and Shiro had been especially proud to learn it had been _Lance_ who approached Pidge for help, "and it does have gladiator bots for me to use but – I dunno, the bots don't seem to be the right opponents for me," Lance said, face screwing up in frustration and annoyance.

"What do you mean by that?" Shiro asked, fairly certain he had an idea but not confident enough in it to assume he was right.

Lance sighed slightly, running a hand through his brown locks as he tried to figure out how to explain it. "They aren't versatile enough to give me a real fight while I'm using my ice," Lance said. "I'm winning all the time against them because they aren't programmed to anticipate my ability so they don't dodge the attacks. They don't know what it means when my eyes glow and they can't register the drop in temperature so they can't prepare themselves. If I'm fighting them without my ice, it's fine but the moment I call on Blue's element, I win almost immediately and it's not helping me get better with my ability," Lance explained, his frustration growing with every word.

"So the problem is that the gladiators don't have the capabilities to fight against your ice powers?" Shiro asked, just wanting to make sure he had the problem correct and Lance gave a nod, looking down at his lap. "And since they can't do that, you aren't learning new ways to defend yourself with your powers or to attack with them," Shiro said and, again, Lance nodded. "Have you asked Coran or Pidge if they can reprogram the gladiators to anticipate your powers? To realise and understand the warning signs that you give before you use them?" Shiro asked and Lance sighed.

"I was going to but then I figured it would be a lot of work for either of them and they're so busy already," Lance said. "Plus, once you and the others figure out how to use your Lions' element, the gladiators will need to be reprogrammed again once we know how your abilities work and what you can do with them and I don't want to ask Coran or Pidge to reprogram the gladiators just for me when they're gonna have to do so soon anyways," Lance confessed. He was fiddling with his thumbs and Shiro realised the Cuban was expecting him to lecture him about not asking Coran or Pidge to help him out.

If Shiro was being honest, his first reaction _was_ to chide Lance for not going to either of them. He knew both Coran and Pidge would've jumped at the chance to help Lance and get their fingers into the gladiators programming so he knew Lance's request wouldn't have been an inconvenience to them. However, he held it back because he knew that scolding Lance for not asking for help would likely make it so the Cuban wouldn't talk with him about his problems in the future and Shiro didn't want that to happen. So, the Black Paladin decided to go with his second reaction. "What if I helped you train your abilities?" Shiro suggested.

Lance's eyes nearly bulged in shock and he whipped his head up and to face Shiro so quickly, Shiro was a little worried he'd hurt himself. "What?" Lance asked, his voice and expression betraying all of his disbelief.

"The problem you're having with the gladiators is that they can't anticipate your powers and aren't challenging you enough because of that," Shiro stated. " _I_ can. I'll train with you so you can get the experience and challenge you need," Shiro told him but Lance was shaking his head.

"No, you can't!" Lance exclaimed, turning himself bodily so he was cross-legged but facing Shiro, panic evident on his face. "What if you don't dodge an attack in time? What if something happens to distract me and I lose control over my attack? What if it messes up your arm? What if -?" Lance cut himself off abruptly, looking alarmed at his outburst and – if Shiro wasn't mistaken – a little guilty.

"What if?" Shiro asked gently, trying to nudge Lance into asking that last question since he wanted to assuage all of Lance's worries about this idea.

"What if I trigger you?" Lance asked quietly, his eyes flicking back down to his hands, which were back in his lap and were being wringed once more. "What if I cause a flashback of the arena? What if I mess up all of your healing because I screw up?" Lance asked and Shiro felt his heart squeeze at the sight of Lance's eyes glistening slightly.

Grabbing Lance's right hand with his flesh one, Shiro squeezed it until Lance's eyes met his. "I wouldn't have suggested the idea if I didn't think you weren't capable of controlling your ability enough to not pose a risk to me," Shiro told him firmly. "As for your other concerns, I'm certain you won't accidentally trigger me," Shiro said, feeling a little uncomfortable admitting he could still be triggered but refusing to show it.

Shiro could see that Lance still wasn't convinced and was soon proven right by Lance's next question. "But what if you have a bad day? You don't always tell us when that happens and I don't want to make it worse by bringing all that back," Lance said, his voice still quiet.

"If I don't feel like I'm in a good headspace for that kind of training, I will let you know and we can arrange to make up that session at a later time, alright?" Shiro offered, willing to make that compromise if it meant he could help Lance solve the issue of how he could train with his ability so he got the best results possible. Lance still didn't look sure of the idea so Shiro tried once more. "I promise, Lance," he swore, not ashamed to admit his voice had a pleading tone to it.

Lance studied his face for any signs that Shiro wasn't completely behind his own idea for a few moments before he nodded, however reluctantly. "Okay, we can try but if something happens-" Lance said but Shiro cut him off.

"Nothing will happen," Shiro told him. "I trust your control over your ability and I trust that on the off chance something happens to distract you enough to lose control, Blue will stop the attack herself," Shiro said honestly.

There were the telltale signs of Lance hearing something only he could hear before he nodded again, a little less reluctantly than before. "Blue said she will," Lance told him. Shiro made sure to hide his signs of relief at that because while he hadn't lied when he said he trusted Blue, he also wasn't 100% certain she could or even would stop the attack. He had no idea if it could potentially hurt Lance if she did and he knew that Blue would never harm her human. "If you're sure you'll be okay sparring with me while I use Blue's element and you promise to tell me when you're having a bad day, I'd really appreciate the help," Lance said.

Shiro could still hear doubt that this was a good idea in Lance's voice but he ignored it. He'd gotten a lot better in the last few months – mostly, Shiro realised, thanks to Lance's help – with preventing his panic attacks and identifying potential triggers and he was positive Lance's ice powers wouldn't cause one since they hadn't so far. Granted, they hadn't been used against him before but Shiro was certain that wouldn't be a problem since it wasn't like Lance would be taking him by surprise. If he knows about the potential attack, he can prepare himself for it. "I swear on both accounts, Lance," Shiro said and finally, the doubt left Lance's features.

"Okay," Lance said, committing himself completely to the idea. "Thanks, Shiro. I really appreciate the help," he said gratefully.

"Don't thank me just yet, Lance," Shiro laughed. "I might end up not being much help," he said but Lance waved his words away flippantly.

"Nah, you'll definitely be better than the gladiators," Lance said confidently. "Do you wanna-?" Lance asked before cutting himself off momentarily. "Do you think you might have some time tomorrow to help me? Assuming there aren't any missions or anything?" Lance asked.

"Yeah, I don't think Allura needs me for anything and I'm free after our morning training session – providing there aren't any emergency missions, of course," Shiro said. "Do you wanna meet up in your training room after lunch?" Shiro asked and Lance nodded.

"Yeah, that'd be great! Thanks, man!" Lance said, his enthusiasm much more apparent now.

"You're welcome," Shiro said, unable to hold back his own smile at Lance's eagerness. "Now, what else have you been up to? I haven't heard any complaints about someone changing out the shampoo for hair dye again so you must've been keeping yourself busy somehow," Shiro said, nudging his elbow into Lance's side teasingly and making the Cuban laugh.

"I would never!" Lance claimed, sounding overly offended at the idea, even though his eyes were twinkling with mirth and Shiro could see how much effort it was taking for him not to grin widely. Shiro raised his brow in disbelief and Lance conceded quickly. "Okay I _would_ but I'm giving Keith some time off as my prank victim since he _did_ help me out after that mission to the not-completely-abandoned Galran base a couple weeks ago," Lance told him, nose scrunching slightly at admitting why Keith was getting a pass.

Shiro couldn't quite hide the wince he gave at the reminder. Not only had Lance been hurt badly enough that Keith and then Hunk had had to carry Lance back to Green but it was a reminder that as much as they thought they'd been getting through to Lance that he could tell them everything and not get reprimanded or judged, they still had a long way to go. "You're still okay, right?" Shiro couldn't help but ask.

"Totally," Lance said with conviction. Shiro thought he saw something flash in Lance's eyes but he couldn't see what and it was gone so quickly that he dismissed it as his imagination. "See? Barely even scarred!" Lance said before he threw his right leg over Shiro's lap and hiked up his boxer's enough that Shiro could see the top of his thigh, all before Shiro could do anything to stop him.

Lance was right. The injury he'd suffered had healed up completely in the cryopod and had left only a thin, pink scar in its wake. The scar bothered Shiro but only because it was evidence that he hadn't been able to protect Lance well enough that he didn't get injured in the first place. "I'm glad there weren't any lingering problems," Shiro said, even though there had never been any before so he shouldn't have had that worry in the first place. Lance hummed slightly in agreement and Shiro decided to move the conversation back away from Lance's most recent injury. "So what _have_ you been up to if you haven't been planning any pranks?" Shiro asked, nudging Lance's knee.

"Who said I haven't been planning pranks?" Lance asked, a mischievous grin on his face and in his eyes. Shiro let out a bark of laughter that had Lance's grin widening slightly. "If you promise not to warn anyone about my plans, I'll tell you about some of them," Lance offered.

"I promise. I need to know how to mitigate the fallout when it happens," Shiro said, voice a bit breathy from his laughter.

"Awesome. So here's what I've got planned for Pidge so far."

* * *

Two quintets later, Shiro found himself once again wandering the halls of the Castle-Ship after another unsettling nightmare destroyed any sleep he'd gotten earlier that night. It was early in his patrol when he spotted Lance's figure walking towards the kitchen and dining room end of the floor they were on. Shiro frowned as he watched the Cuban's slow pace, unsure of why he was feeling small amounts of alarm and worry for the brunette. Deciding to go with his gut, Shiro followed the Blue Paladin, figuring he was either going to go to the observation room located near the kitchens or he was going to get himself a midnight snack.

In the two days it had been since their talk in the observation room – which had ended when Lance fell asleep on Shiro's shoulder mid-conversation, resulting in the Black Paladin carrying Lance back to his room and tucking him in – they'd managed to only find the time for one spar lesson. As Lance had put it when the alarms sounded the day before just as he and Shiro were making their way to the secondary training room for their original session, the universe had obviously decided to throw a wrench in their plans in the form of a Galran fleet attacking a small planet whose local inhabitants had barely gotten the distress signal to sound when they were captured, making it so Voltron was going in almost blind.

They'd won the fight and freed the planet from the Galrans grasp within a couple of vargas, aided by the fact the Galrans hadn't been able to establish a strong hold on the planet before Voltron had shown up, and they'd managed to be back on the Castle-Ship before dinner and with no major injuries. When they'd been dismissed for the night, Shiro had taken Lance aside and promised they'd make up for the missed training session the next day since he had to help Allura write up the report for the mission for their archives and Lance had cheerfully agreed, looking extremely happy that Shiro had remembered and was bothering to rearrange their lesson. They'd decided on holding the lesson after lunch again and Lance had left to hit the showers with a joke about how the universe had better not mess with his plans again thrown over his shoulder.

Thankfully, the universe had decided to let them have their lesson in peace and they'd met up again the next day for their lesson. There hadn't been much one-on-one fighting as Shiro wanted to know just what Lance could manage with his ability and talk through his limitations before he and Lance sparred, just so he knew what to look for. He was glad he did because despite his enthusiasm and claims he was gonna finally win a sparring match against Shiro, Lance still seemed nervous about using his ice powers against his team leader. However, when Shiro had started asking questions around his abilities, prodding to get every detail he could about them, Lance had relaxed and that relaxation had become more apparent with every question and demonstration. By the time Shiro had run out of questions, Lance was much more at ease when Shiro asked him to move into his fighting stance than Shiro knew he would've been if they'd started the spar immediately.

Though the spar hadn't ended with Lance managing to beat Shiro, Lance had still been thrilled by the end of it since just the twenty dobashes Shiro had spent physically fighting against Lance, the Blue Paladin had learned so much more than he had during all of his fights with the gladiators combined, which was something Lance had happily exclaimed to Shiro in amongst his thanks to Black's pilot. Once Shiro had managed to get Lance to calm down enough to do so, they'd arranged to have lessons every second day until Lance thought he held enough control over his ice to ask the other Paladins to spar with him. Shiro had known Lance was tired after their spar since he hadn't gone easy on Lance during those twenty dobashes so he'd dismissed him soon after it had ended, telling him to get to the shower and get some down time in before they were summoned to form Voltron again. Lance hadn't needed to be told twice and had taken off, shouting another thank you over his shoulder as he left.

Because he knew just how tired Lance was, Shiro was surprised to see him up at all. He'd expected the Blue Paladin to sleep the night through, bar any alarms soundings. Jogging slightly when it looked like Lance was about to pass the kitchen – ruling out Shiro's thoughts that the Cuban may have been after a midnight snack – Shiro called out to him. "Lance!"

Lance startled violently, swinging himself around and pulling his arms halfway up to his chest, readying himself for a fight before his widened eyes settled on Shiro. "Dude! Don't scare me like that!" Lance said, hand going to his chest dramatically. "I don't want the way I go out to be because one of you snuck up on me in the middle of the night!" Lance declared, glaring at Shiro.

"Sorry, I thought you'd heard me," Shiro claimed, raising his hands defensively. Lance squinted at him, eyes scrutinising him before he gave a nod and relaxed once more. "How come you're still awake?" Shiro asked before Lance could say anything.

"Oh, I just woke up thirsty so I was gonna grab a drink of water before heading back to bed," Lance claimed, rubbing the back of his neck with a hand as he moved his weight from one foot to the other and gave Shiro a 'what can you do?' grin.

Shiro raised a brow, an obvious sign he had an issue with the excuse. "Really? Because you nearly walked past the kitchen," Shiro said, jerking his chin towards the room the stood on his right.

Lance's eyes widened but not in surprise. It was more like he was shocked that Shiro had noticed, if the Black Paladin wasn't reading the expression wrong. "Haha, I didn't even notice!" Lance laughed, though the laugh didn't reach his eyes or sounded very genuine. "Guess I was spacing out. Good thing you did manage to sneak up on me," Lance said.

"Glad I could help," Shiro said, making sure not to show Lance that he hadn't fully bought his excuse. He didn't want to let him get away with lying to him but he was going to take Hunk's advice from after their group talk while Lance recovered from his injuries from Tra'Crolle to pick and choose his battles when it came to Lance. For the moment, Shiro was willing to trust that Lance would go to one of them if he were having problems eventually.

"By the way, why are you up?" Lance asked as he skirted Shiro and headed for the kitchen. "Did you have another nightmare?" he asked, looking over his shoulder as he headed for the cupboard that held the glasses.

"Yeah," Shiro told him and Lance gave him a sympathetic look. He grabbed a second glass and wiggled it questioningly towards Shiro. "Please," Shiro said in response and Lance filled both glasses two-thirds full of water.

"Do you wanna talk about it?" Lance asked as he handed over one of the glasses, taking a sip out of his own glass.

"Thank you, Lance, but I've already told Black about it and I don't wanna keep you up," Shiro told him honestly.

Lance pursed his lips slightly and Shiro just knew he was asking Black for confirmation. The amusement he felt from his Lion told Shiro he was right and Shiro felt both annoyed and amused at the fact that this was one of the ways Lance utilised his bond with their Lions. "Okay," Lance said, having gotten the confirmation he needed. "Well, I'm glad you talked to her but just remember I'm around if you need to talk to someone else," Lance said.

"I will," Shiro said and then said, "and I hope you know that as well." At Lance's puzzled expression, Shiro elaborated. "That I'm here if you want to talk about something bothering you," he said and Lance's face slackened in surprise before it softened slightly.

"I know but thanks, Shiro," Lance said. "Well, I'm gonna head back to bed," Lance announced, covering his mouth as he yawned. Something about the yawn seemed off to Shiro but for the life of him, he couldn't figure out why. "You make sure you go to bed soon too, okay?" he said and Shiro gave him a nod.

"I will," Shiro swore before lifting his glass. "Thanks for the water. Go and get yourself some sleep," he instructed and Lance grinned.

"You know who to come to for a killer glass of water," Lance joked as he moved away from the bench, his half-drunk glass in his left hand. "Night, Shiro," he said, giving the man a smile.

"Night, Lance," Shiro said, watching the younger man leave the kitchen. "Is he alright?" Shiro asked, turning his question inwards to his Lion.

" _At the moment, yes,"_ Black told him.

Shiro hummed in response before he thanked his Lion. He didn't think Black was lying but something about her tone told him that she was being very literal with her words. In that moment, Lance was okay. He knew Black could hear his thoughts but his Lion wasn't offering any more information. Draining the last of his water, Shiro washed his glass out and placed it upside down to drain and dry before he headed back out of the kitchen to resume his patrol. He wasn't going to go after Lance and demand answers but as he walked down the hallway, Shiro found himself coming to the decision that he was going to be keeping an eye on the Blue Paladin just so he could be there for his friend if he ended up needing him.

* * *

Over the next three quintets, Shiro's worries about Lance had only grown. The night after the kitchen incident, Shiro hadn't been able to sleep at all and thought a lap around the Castle-Ship might help tire him out. Just as he was making his way back to the Paladins' corridor, he swore he saw Lance disappearing around the corner at the other end but when he'd gotten there and peered in the direction he'd thought the Cuban had gone, there were no signs of him. A check in Lance's room had shown the bed empty but there was a light on in the attached bathroom that shone under the door and Shiro thought he could hear water running. He'd shrugged it off as his imagination but he couldn't quite shake the feeling it wasn't as he went to his own room.

The second night, Shiro had seen Lance as he made his way from the archive room, where he'd been logging the last few reports before he'd gone to bed, and he knew he hadn't imagined it. Lance had obviously spotted Shiro first but all Shiro had seen when he looked up from his tablet was widened blue eyes and an olive-green blur as Lance disappeared down the closest corridor. Naturally, Shiro had been alarmed by this behaviour and had rushed after Lance but lost him pretty quickly only a corridor later.

When he'd tried to ask Lance the next day whether something had happened in their previous day's sparring session to upset him, Lance had done a particularly good job of acting confused about the question. When Shiro revealed that he thought he'd seen Lance late night and that the Blue Paladin had run from him, Lance had denied it, telling him that he'd been asleep all night. Shiro had apologised and laughed at himself, telling Lance he must've been more tired than he thought the previous night if he was hallucinating about them and Lance had joined in, laughing about how paperwork would drive anyone crazy but Shiro now couldn't shake the feeling there was _definitely_ something wrong.

The incident on the third night had merely cemented the idea that something was going on with Lance. After the incident the previous night, Shiro had made himself stay up, sitting right next to his closed door and keeping an ear out for the telltale noise of one of the other's doors opening and closing. Close to midnight – just when Shiro had started considering calling it a night – he heard a door hissing quietly open before it slid softly shut moments later. There were barely detectable footsteps walking past his door, telling Shiro whoever it was sneaking up the corridor was trying their hardest to stay quiet. Once the footsteps had faded, Shiro slammed his hand on the pad to open his door and rushed out of his room quickly in the direction he'd heard the footsteps heading. He made it to the end of the Paladin corridor just in time to see something turning to the left further down and Shiro sprinted as quietly as he was able to down the hallway so he could keep the figure in sight.

Shiro continued to follow who he had quickly figured out was Lance until they'd both made it to the main Lion hangar, where all of the Lions were currently stationed since Pidge had been running tests on all of their systems to see if she could improve or add anything. Shiro hadn't been quick enough to slip into the room behind Lance before the doors closed and he couldn't open the door himself without tipping Lance off that he'd been followed. Deciding to wait, Shiro sat himself against the wall and settled himself in as comfortably as he could until Lance came back out of the hangar bay but his plans were stopped by Black.

" _You might as well go to bed, my pilot,"_ Black told him, causing Shiro to scowl.

"Why?" he asked, a touch petulantly.

" _Lance will be sleeping in Blue tonight. He won't be coming back out and I don't think the corridor makes a comfortable bed for your kind,"_ she told him. Though her voice was amused yet kind towards him, Shiro could sense her worry for Lance.

"What's going on?" Shiro asked bluntly and Black sighed.

" _I cannot tell you the whole story as I've promised Lance I wouldn't, as have the other Lions, but I think if you asked him after your lesson with him tomorrow, you'll get your answers. Just… go easy on him tomorrow if he makes mistakes during training,"_ she requested.

Shiro's curiousity burned stronger at her words but her concern for Lance made him not push the matter. "Okay, I will," he promised her and she allowed a wave of gratitude to flow through their bond.

" _Thank you, Shiro,"_ Black said. _"I will do my best to try and convince him to open up with you rather than try and play it off like he has been,"_ Black promised in turn.

"Thank you, Black," Shiro said as he got back to his feet. He felt his Lion press warmly against his mind as he started the walk back to his room, trusting his Lion and the others to work on Lance as subtly as they could so that by tomorrow afternoon, Lance would be willing to talk to Shiro and they could get to the bottom of whatever had been stopping the Blue Paladin from getting some sleep the past several nights.

* * *

Shiro had to give himself credit for how well he did keeping a lid on his self-control the next day during both their usual, full-team training session and his and Lance's private sparring. He wasn't sure how Lance had done it the last few days but it was obvious today that the Blue Paladin was exhausted. Several missed opportunities for him to strike during the first training session, his slower reaction time to teasing remarks from Pidge and Keith, his forced cheeriness when he assured Hunk he was fine and his obvious attempts at dodging questions of whether he was alright throughout the day all told Shiro and everyone else that something was up with Lance.

Keith had been all geared up and ready to confront the Cuban but Shiro had managed to convince him to hold off until after he had done so during his and Lance's sparring session. Keith hadn't been happy but he had done as he was asked. Both Pidge and Hunk did so as well when Shiro had asked them, managing to do so while Lance was still busy in the shower, but the looks on their faces told Shiro he had one opportunity to do so before they spoke to the brunette. Allura and Coran had actually approached Shiro with their concerns about Lance's performance during the group training session and Shiro had promised them he would be talking to Lance later in the day, something that seemed to soothe both of their worries enough that they were able to behave somewhat normally during lunch.

Now he and Lance were halfway through their agreed upon time limit for their training sessions and Shiro was forced to call for a break when Lance missed yet another blatantly obvious opportunity to strike. "Alright, Lance, let's take ten," Shiro said, warming his prosthetic arm up to melt the ice that had hit it and stuck to the metal in one of Lance's recent attacks.

"I'm still good to go," Lance said, looking a little confused at Shiro's orders for a break. They'd only had three lessons so far but up until this one, Shiro hadn't had them break halfway through.

"I'd like the break," Shiro said, already moving towards the panel hidden in the wall that contained the water pouches and Altean version of granola bars.

"Alright," Lance said, still frowning but dropping the subject as he accepted the water pouch and granola bar Shiro handed him. "You okay?" Lance couldn't help but ask as he took a seat on Shiro's left, settling himself up against the wall with his right leg stretched out in front of him and left leg bent at the knee so he could sit his left elbow on it while he drank from the pouch.

"Are you?" Shiro countered, causing Lance's brows to crinkle in confusion. "You've been awake the last three nights. Please," Shiro said, holding his robotic arm up in a halting gesture when Lance predictably went to say something, "don't bother claiming you haven't been," Shiro requested and Lance's mouth shut with an audible click. "What's been going on?" Shiro asked.

"It's nothing," Lance immediately told him and Shiro didn't bother holding back the small sigh, causing Lance to wince. "It's stupid and I can deal with it on my own," Lance said, his voice filled with the all-too familiar irritation and contempt Shiro knew was directed at the Cuban himself.

"So which is it?" Shiro asked. "Is it nothing or is it something stupid you can deal with? Because it can't be both," Shiro pointed out.

"It's nothing for you to worry about," Lance said, a touch tersely but Shiro didn't let it affect him.

"Too bad I am," Shiro said. "So, what is going on with you?" Shiro asked once more. When he glanced back over to Lance and saw the stubborn set to his jaw, Shiro knew he'd have to pull out the big guns, so to speak. "Please tell me, Lance. Please let me try and help you as much as you've helped me," Shiro pleaded. He could see the tense muscles soften slightly and knew he needed to push a little more. "Black's worried about you. I'm sure the other Lions are as well and so is the team. They noticed something was wrong during training this morning and it's obvious you're exhausted from staying up so late. We're all worried about you," Shiro told him gently.

"It's ridiculous," Lance said once more, his voice an unnatural quiet. "I've been having nightmares the last few nights," he admitted, not looking at Shiro. "Actually, I've been having them since I came out of the pod after that mission on the abandoned Galran base." Shiro baulked slightly. It had been well over two weeks since that mission, nearing three weeks, and Lance had been suffering nightmares for almost the entire time.

"Why didn't you tell us?" Shiro asked, his eyes turning sad at the idea of Lance suffering in silence.

Lance snorted derisively. "Because I thought I could handle it," Lance said, tucking his chin on his knee and looking at the ground. "Because you've been through so much more than me and you don't let your bad nights affect you this badly and I didn't want to be a bur-" Lance cut himself off suddenly, cheeks blazing red as he realised what he was about to say.

"You are _not_ a burden to this team in any way, Lance," Shiro said firmly. "Having nightmares doesn't change that either," he told him, making sure his voice stayed kind but firm as he spoke to his friend, his hand moving to Lance's shoulder to comfort him. "And just because I've been through worse, it doesn't mean that what you've been through doesn't matter. You shouldn't compare my injuries – even mental ones – to yours to try and figure out how much you should be affected by them and what would be acceptable because that's not how it works," Shiro told him, gripping Lance's shoulder tightly.

"I told you it was stupid," Lance muttered.

"I'm not saying it's stupid," Shiro told him. "I think everyone is guilty of doing that from time to time. I know I have," Shiro admitted and for the first time since Shiro confronted him, Lance looked at him. "Sometimes I find myself telling myself that at least I don't remember much of what it was like being held by the Galra. Hundreds of prisoners aren't given that and it's likely Matt and Sam will remember everything so I tell myself they have it worse and it's pathetic of me to be having nightmares and panic attacks over the small slivers I do remember," Shiro divulged, almost sighing when Lance got that familiar mother-hen expression.

"But you shouldn't -!" Lance started exclaiming when Shiro raised a pointed brow at him, causing the Blue Paladin to deflate slightly. "It's not the same thing," Lance said petulantly.

"Isn't it?" Shiro asked but Lance didn't give him an answer. "Lance, you can't keep doing this whole 'do as I say, not as I do' thing you've got going on," Shiro told him, not trying to be harsh but not letting himself sugar coat it either. "I am fully aware of how I sound telling you to take your own advice considering how bad I was at doing the exact same thing before you started helping me with what I was going through but it kind of makes my point. You've seen how much I was hurting and how low my opinion was of myself, my position on the team, how much I deserved to be free after what I'd done in the arena and you've seen firsthand how much your advice has helped me. You've seen me go from trying to keep everything from you guys because I thought you guys wouldn't want me leading you if you knew how damaged I was to seeking you or one of the others out when I've had a bad day," Shiro told him. He could see Lance was warring with himself and knew he was debating whether or not he could trust Shiro really meant what he said so Shiro decided to bring this conversation to an end with the hope Lance would think about what he said rather than dismiss it entirely. "Just – please come and talk to me if you keep having them? Sometimes it helps more to speak to someone other than the Lions," he told Lance, hearing Black's miffed grumble, "no matter how good they are at listening and offering as much comfort as they can," he added, trying to appease his Lion.

Lance's lips twitched upwards slightly, likely because he could feel Black's reaction to Shiro's words and his obvious attempts at trying to mollify Black. "I'll think about it," Lance finally said after a few moments.

Shiro had to resist the urge to sigh or push the matter, choosing to let it go for them moment with the relief of knowing that Lance would at least consider coming to talk to him. "Thank you," Shiro said gratefully, squeezing his shoulder in a second, silent thanks. "Why don't you go on ahead and rest for the rest of the afternoon?" Shiro suggested.

"But we're only halfway through our spar!" Lance protested, looking at Shiro in surprise. It was an exceedingly rare day when Shiro let them leave training only halfway through it and it was usually because something big had come up.

"You're tired and you're likely to hurt yourself or me if we keep going, especially after this kind of talk," Shiro told him, watching as Lance deflated slightly in defeat. "We can make up for it tomorrow, so long as you get some sleep," Shiro offered as a compromise.

"Alright," Lance said, a hint of a whine in his voice as he joined Shiro in getting to their feet. "I guess I'll see you at dinner," Lance said, looking a little awkward, like he wasn't sure of what he was supposed to do or say. "Thanks for, you know, asking if I was okay and stuff," Lance finally said, his lips twitching slightly as though he wasn't overly happy with his wording.

"Any time, Lance," Shiro said, giving him a smile. "I'm always happy to lend you an ear," he reminded him, placing a little bit of emphasis on his words and Lance gave him a nod.

"See you later," Lance said once again, giving Shiro a wave that wasn't quite as cheery as it usually was before he headed for the door at a light jog.

Shiro watched as the door slid open and shut once Lance was out of the room before he gathered up the small amount of rubbish they'd left behind. _"You did good. He's going to think about what you said and it's going to make a difference, I'm sure of it,"_ Black told Shiro, causing his cheeks to pinken in a flush.

"Thanks, Black. I hope you're right," Shiro told her, throwing out the rubbish and heading for the door. He needed to find Keith before the Red and Blue Paladins ran into each other and Keith ended up unintentionally scaring Lance with his anxiousness to find out what was wrong with his friend.

* * *

That night, Shiro found himself sitting up in his bed, halfway off it, with his right arm glowing an eerie purple, providing some light to the darkened room, and having absolutely no idea why he wasn't still asleep. The answer came in the form of a timid, quiet knock on his door and Shiro sighed in relief. He hadn't thought he was having a nightmare since he didn't feel sweaty or tired but he'd been a little afraid that he had been about to sleepwalk while dreaming about something violent enough for him to unconsciously weaponise his arm.

Calming himself down and turning his arm off, Shiro headed for the door. "Lance?" he said, taking in the form of the Cuban teenager in front of him. He looked a little pale and extremely tired, the dark bags under his eyes standing out starkly, which told Shiro all he needed to know about why he was there.

"Can you help me with my nightmares? I can't keep this up," Lance said, his voice cracking slightly from exhaustion and his emotions. "I'm gonna get one of you hurt soon if I can't sleep because of them," Lance said, a small sob catching in his throat.

"Come in and sit down on the bed. I'll get you a glass of water," Shiro said. The fact that Lance didn't argue spoke volumes about how tired he was and Shiro watched the Cuban carefully as he shuffled into his room and settled on his bed after kicking his lion slippers off. Shiro headed into the bathroom, deciding against going to the kitchen, and filled a glass up from the tap there before he headed back into his room and offered Lance – who was still sitting on the edge of his bed – the glass. "Are you alright now?" Shiro asked after a couple of minutes of Lance slowly sipping the water from the glass.

"Yeah," Lance said, looking at the empty glass in his hands. "Thanks, Shiro."

"You're welcome," the Black Paladin said as he took the glass from Lance's hands and placed it on his bedside table. "Was it another nightmare?" Shiro asked, even though he was certain he knew the answer.

As expected, Lance nodded. "Yeah."

"What have your nightmares been about?" Shiro decided to ask, taking the chance that Lance would continue the sharing streak he had been on earlier that day. "Are they about the explosion on that Galran base?" he asked, remembering that Lance had mentioned he'd been having them since then.

It took a few moments, long enough for Shiro to think he wasn't going to say anything before Lance did speak. "Yeah, kind of," Lance said, shifting slightly before settling once more. "You know how I couldn't remember anything after the crystal was blown up on Arus?" Lance asked and Shiro nodded.

"Yeah, you said you couldn't even remember leaving the party. You remembered heading for the stairs after drinking the Nunvill Coran gave you but nothing until you came out of the cryopod afterwards," Shiro recalled before realising what Lance was saying. "You remember now?" he asked, not sure what he wanted Lance's answer to be. The explosion and the events leading up to getting Lance in the pod so he could be healed had been traumatic enough for Lance to learn about from them that Shiro had been almost relieved that Lance couldn't remember it all himself.

Lance shook his head. "Not everything," Lance told him. "I guess the explosion was strong enough and the time between it and me going into the pod was long enough for me to not have formed all of those memories. That or my mind thought it was too traumatic and had kept them hidden so I wouldn't be affected further by them," Lance said with a shrug. "But I remember some of it now," he admitted.

"What do you remember?" Shiro asked, morbidly curious, before he could stop himself.

"Well, I remember being with Coran in the crystal room," Lance said. "I remember Rover coming in and thinking it was weird Pidge wasn't with it as it went right up to the crystal and I remember thinking something bad was about to happen and that I needed to get Coran out of the room," Lance told him. "It goes black after that but I think I regained consciousness again while Sendak was threatening you." Lance paused for a moment. "Or I guess he was threatening me in order to make you do something," Lance said, frowning as though he couldn't quite grasp the memory. "I think I heard Pidge's voice and I think," Lance paused again, "I think I heard you scream," he told Shiro quietly, a tear slipping down his face and Shiro couldn't stop himself from wrapping his arm around Lance's shoulders and pulling him into a tight hug. "I can remember taking that shot at Sendak and I _think_ Keith was saying something to me but it gets all muddy again before I can't remember anything else until I came out of the pod," Lance told him, sniffling slightly.

"I'm sorry," Shiro said, not quite certain whether he was apologising for what Lance was remembering, what he was going through, not being able to protect when he was at his most vulnerable, or all of the above.

"S'not your fault," Lance mumbled, true to form, and Shiro couldn't help his fond smile. It took a couple of moments for Lance to pull himself together enough to keep talking. "The explosion on that base… I think it triggered those bits of memory from Arus and I've been having nightmares of both since then," Lance told him, wiping the few tears that still lingered on his cheeks.

"Is that all they're about? Just you reliving the memories?" Shiro asked, squeezing Lance a bit closer when he shook his head.

"No," Lance admitted. "It's like my brain makes up these 'what if?' scenarios out of those memories and uses them as nightmare fuel," Lance told him. "I don't wanna talk about them though," Lance said before Shiro could ask.

"That's alright," Shiro assured him, even though he wanted to ask, just so he could try and help end Lance's nightmares but knowing that in this case, letting Lance choose how much he shared at a time was for the best. "What do you want to do?" he asked instead.

"I just want to sleep for once," Lance told him, his voice trembling slightly, "and I don't want to be in my room but I don't know where else to go. Sleeping in the observatory or lounge rooms doesn't help and sleeping in Blue hasn't helped at all in the last week," Lance said. He yawned widely, as though the talk of sleep had triggered it and rubbed his eyes sleepily.

"Why don't you stay here for the night?" Shiro suggested before he could really think about it. The shocked look he got from Lance told him just how unexpected the offer truly was.

"Are you sure?" Lance asked, looking like he expected Shiro to rescind the offer but in that moment, Shiro decided he was gonna stick by it. The few rare times they'd managed a group sleepover in the loungeroom they used most frequently had been the few times Shiro had managed to get a good full night's sleep, which got him thinking that maybe what Lance needed was the feeling of someone close. Blue, as much as she was alive and could offer mental hugs and whatnot, couldn't provide the warmth or feeling of a human and Shiro knew that that was what helped most, or it did for him.

"I'm sure," Shiro said firmly. "It won't take away your nightmares for good but maybe it'll help you get enough sleep tonight. We can deal with your nightmares again tomorrow when we're both awake," Shiro told him.

Lance looked like he was debating whether it was a good idea or not but Shiro could see his exhaustion was winning. The Cuban finally gave him a nod paired with a tired but grateful smile. "That sounds really good," Lance said. "Thanks, Shiro."

"You're welcome," Shiro said, relieved Lance had taken up his offer. He hadn't been certain the Blue Paladin would and he wasn't sure what else he could've suggested to help him if Lance had turned down the offer for an impromptu sleepover.

"And thanks for listening to me," Lance said softly, speaking before Shiro could say something else. "I wasn't sure…" Lance trailed off but Shiro got the gist.

"I told you I would listen if you needed someone to talk to and that offer will always be open, Lance. You don't have to suffer through your nightmares or any other problems you may have alone. Someone will always be there to help you," Shiro told him, pulling him back into a hug, this time a proper one that Lance returned far too quickly for Shiro to think he hadn't been hoping for one. "Alright?" Shiro asked, needing to hear Lance confirm that he believed Shiro.

Lance nodded against his shoulder. "Okay," he said softly, allowing himself to enjoy the hug.

"Good," Shiro said, not letting go of Lance just yet. Shiro knew he would have to pull away from the hug so he could turn off the lights and they could both get some sleep but he decided that it wouldn't hurt either of them if he didn't do so for another few moments.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here's Shiro's chapter for you all! I really hope you like this chapter and let me know your thoughts in the comments! Many thanks to those of you who have commented on this story so far :D See you all next week for Lance's chapter!


	7. Chapter 7

"Did you say we're going shopping? Is there a space mall on the planet below us?" Lance asked excitedly, looking between Allura and Coran from where he sat at the dining room table. They'd been halfway through breakfast when Allura had casually mentioned that they were calling training off for that morning in order to visit the planet below them to restock some supplies.

"No, it's not a space mall," Allura told him. "I am unsure if you have something equivalent to it on Earth but it's more like a gathering of small one-of-a-kind shops in an open area that we can explore," she said, obviously unsure how to describe it.

"It's a space market!" Lance declared, looking excited. He loved markets, especially when he was with his family. He loved searching for all of the unique stalls and finding unusual items and he really enjoyed haggling and observing so many different kinds of people.

"A space market, then," Allura said, giving Lance a warm smile before she turned back to the others. "We will, of course, be prioritising the restocking of the Castle-Ship but once that is completed, Coran will give you some GAC and you will be free to explore the space market at your leisure, so long as it's not too late and we don't have a mission come up," Allura told them.

Shiro chuckled at the excited whoops from the three youngest Paladins before he looked at Allura. "What time do you want us to be ready by?" he asked.

"Oh, if we gather in the main hangar bay in thirty dobashes? We can't take a pod since it's too small for all of us and the items we need to purchase but perhaps you or Hunk would be willing to pilot us to the surface?" Allura asked, looking between the two of them.

Hunk shrugged at Shiro, silently telling him that it was his decision and Shiro nodded. "We can take Black. I'm sure she'll enjoy watching everything," he said. Both he and Lance grinned at the purr they could hear in their minds that told them exactly what Black thought about it.

"Wonderful," Allura said before she focused back on her half-full breakfast plate. "What will you all be searching for when we've finished buying everything for the Castle-Ship?" she asked curiously as they all took her cue and continued eating their breakfast.

"I'm gonna look for the weirdest stuff I can get my hands on for Veronica and Luis," Lance said immediately, excitement shining in his eyes. "I might see if I can find some different kinds of hair clips or ties for the little she-demons that are my youngest sisters. Maybe I'll be able to find some toys or games for my niece and nephew. Hopefully they haven't grown out of the things I remember them liking," he said, eyes turning sad for a moment before he forced himself to bury that feeling and move on. "I don't know about my parents though. I'll have to see what I can find," Lance said, the touch of sadness now evident in his voice but it was mostly buried by his elation about being able to go shopping for more than just supplies.

"I'm going straight for the tech," Pidge told them predictably, pushing her glasses further up onto the bridge of her nose. "I want to see what kind of technology this planet has and see if I can use it to either find Dad and Matt or bolster the Lions or the Castle somehow. Maybe we'll get lucky and there'll be more games for our gaming console," Pidge said, sharing a smirk with Lance.

"I think I'm going to look at their spices. It'd be nice to have some more variety in the kitchen and maybe they'll have something close to cinnamon!" Hunk said, looking excited about the idea. "Plus, I want to see if I can find some trinkets for my mums," he added.

"Do you wanna look together?" Lance asked him. "You know my parents almost as well as I do! You can help me choose things for them!" Lance said, sounding very excited about this idea.

Hunk visibly perked up. "Dude, yes! You know how hard it is to shop for my mums! I'll need your help as well!" he said, looking relieved that he wouldn't have to face this impossible task by himself now.

"I'm not sure what I'll buy yet. I think I'll leave it to be a surprise," Shiro told them before he took another bite of his breakfast.

"Same," Keith said. Out of all of them, he was the least enthusiastic about shopping, whether it be at a space mall or space market.

"I wouldn't mind looking for some new jewelry to wear to banquets or celebrations that we attend. I think it would be a subtle but nice way for me to show my support for planets who are part of our coalition," Allura said thoughtfully. "Of course, I wouldn't mind simply just browsing the wares. I don't recall being able to attend many markets on Altea," she told them.

"How come?" Pidge asked curiously.

Coran was the one to answer. "Unfortunately, no member of the Royal Family was able to attend very many markets during King Alfor's reign. Though Altea was peaceful and no citizen would have dared to harm any of them simply because there was no reason for them to do so, King Alfor, Queen Melenor and Princess Allura were all too busy in the royal court and attending to their duties. Why, I think I can only recall three separate occasions where a member of the Royal Family had a couple of varga spare to simply enjoy the vast offerings the markets offered after Allura was born!"

Allura nodded in agreement. "I can only remember exploring the Altean markets twice in my life, though they were held every phoebe," she told them. "They always seemed so magical to me. All those stalls from different planets with all of their products displayed, it was almost like a different world," she said, a slightly wistful note in her voice as her eyes glazed slightly as she focused more on the memories she was recalling.

"What was your favourite thing about them?" Hunk asked Allura, breaking her out of her memories with his curious question. "Earth's markets – or the ones I've been to, anyways – were almost always interesting because you got to see so many different cultures represented by the stalls. And the food!" Hunk exclaimed, eyes glimmering with fond memories. "There were so many different types of food, especially at the bigger markets," Hunk said, almost drooling as he recalled a few of his favourite market foods.

Lance noticed Allura's mood immediately brighten, which in turn brightened the atmosphere in the room, and silently congratulated his best friend for achieving what he'd obviously intended to do with his question. Allura's smile was far more fond than saddened as she hummed in thought, trying to pick what memory to share first, oblivious to the way Coran grinned at Hunk. "Oh!" the Altean princess exclaimed as she finally chose her favourite memory. "There was a stall that attended every second or third market Altea hosted run by an opthel, native to the planet Opthelium. It had the most beautiful trinkets," Allura recalled. "They worked with a material similar to glass but it was far stronger than anything else that resembled glass. I remember the opthel showing me her wares the first time and I had been hesitant to purchase anything from her," she divulged.

"How come?" Pidge asked, brow creasing in confusion and curiousity as she took another bite of her breakfast.

"Well, I had no idea about the strength of their glass so when I saw these beautifully intricate but fragile-looking trinkets, all I could think was that it'd break the moment someone accidentally touched it too hard," Allura explained. "The markets were held near the Castle-Ship but not close enough that I could be sure anything I bought from that stall would survive being carried that far. However, once the opthel realised what my concerns were, she pulled out this thin sheet of the same glass and brought it down sharply on the table! I thought she had gone mad but the glass didn't break, even though she'd hit the table with it hard enough to make the table shudder!" Allura told them, obviously still as in awe of what she'd witnessed all those years ago as she was today.

Pidge wasn't the only human to look astonished. "How thin was it?" Hunk asked curiously.

Allura held her thumb and index finger only a couple of millimeters apart. "It wouldn't have been any thicker than this," she told them before lowering her hand. "Of course, once I was sure anything I bought would survive being bumped, I purchased two beautiful sculptures that I still have on display in my room," Allura said. "The glass is coloured but not deeply enough that it blocks the light shining through the sculptures so whenever we pass a sun or very bright star, they sometimes catch the sculptures and my room is lit up in the most spectacular way," she told them. "That is my favourite memory, not only because it was the first time I was allowed out of the Castle-Ship without my parents or dozens of guards looking over my shoulder but because it was the first time someone had either not recognised me as the princess or didn't care enough to stop them from doing something that could've been seen as an act of aggression towards myself. She just saw a potential customer who didn't believe in the strength of her wares and decided to use the quickest and most effective method to soothe my worries so I would buy from her," Allura explained, a small grin on her lips.

Coran shook his head. "I remember that," he said, giving Allura a wry look. "Your father almost had a heart attack when word reached him about what had happened! Your mother, however, had given your father the flattest look I'd ever seen on Queen Melenor's face before she asked how he expected the opthel to show you the durability of her products quick enough that she wouldn't lose not only you as a customer but other potential customers who didn't want to linger to hear the likely lengthy explanation she would've had to otherwise give you," Coran told Allura, who laughed lightly.

"Truly Mother always was the one to worry least about my safety. She at the very least didn't believe every little thing was a danger to me," Allura said, a touch of melancholy in her voice before she shook her head and focused on the Paladins. "What are your markets like? I would love to hear some of your favourite memories of them," Allura said, eyes shining with her curiousity.

Both Shiro and Keith immediately paid just a bit more attention to their food, silently showing their unwillingness to go first so Allura focused more on the Garrison Trio. The three youngest Paladins looked at one another before both Pidge and Lance gestured for Hunk to go ahead, since their friend had already half answered Allura's questions earlier. Hunk took the invitation readily. "Okay, so, firstly, there are a lot of different kinds of street markets on Earth – or in America, at least – but my favourite one was held every month – er, phoebe to you," Hunk said, correcting himself so Allura and Coran would understand a bit easier.

Lance hid his grin at the way Allura and Coran leant forward like curious children as Hunk spoke behind the next bite of his breakfast. Right now, Lance couldn't think of a morning that had started out better on the Castle-Ship and he just hoped the rest of the day continued in the same fashion.

* * *

Though it had taken them nearly four hours to find the supplies they needed for the Castle-Ship, haggle the prices, load it all into Black then unload it all into the Castle-Ship in the appropriate places since, as Allura had pointed out, it would save them having to do so after the day of shopping, Lance was still looking forward to getting back down to the small planet. Mada was a planet that had no local inhabitants but rather homed hundreds of various alien species, all of whom ran at least one stall in the permanent space market that was set up on the surface.

As Allura had explained on the flight down in Black for the resupplying mission, there were several dozen aliens who had always called Mada home but they were all natives of a different planet. Mada just happened to have the ability to support life but didn't have any kind of intelligent life, other than the odd animalistic species, to speak of. It was the perfect planet to set up as a space market since there were dozens of planets within a couple of hours from it and it was close to a section of space that saw a lot of traffic or, as Lance had immediately dubbed it, a 'space highway'.

Coran finished handing over the last of the small pouches that held the GAC they'd been given to spend over the next few hours. Once Hunk had accepted the last one, the coins clinking gently as he placed them in a pocket, Coran grinned. "Make sure you spend this money wisely! If you need any advice on how to haggle someone, come and find me! Why, once I managed to –" Coran said, starting to get into what would likely be a lengthy and very detailed recount of that particular memory. However, they were saved by an announcement from the pilot's seat.

"Half a dobash until we land," Shiro announced, seemingly cutting Coran off accidentally.

"Thank you, Shiro," Allura said. Lance narrowed his eyes at the two suspiciously. Allura seemed a little too grateful for Lance to believe it had been a complete accident. Allura addressed all of them before Lance could say or do anything to try and confirm his suspicions. "As I already said, you may split up to explore the markets. Please do not turn off or lose your communication devices," Allura instructed, fiddling with her silver earring that matched an earring sitting on each Paladins ear. Coran had one but everyone knew he was likely going to stick with Allura since he hadn't been awfully happy with the idea of Allura exploring the markets by herself. "I would like to propose that we meet back up in two vargas? Perhaps to find something to eat and discuss whether more time to explore is needed?" she suggested.

"I think that's a good idea, Princess," Shiro said as he brought Black down on a landing pad softly. "I know that Black is still covered by the illusion cloak Pidge installed on the Lions," he gave the Green Paladin a proud smile, "but perhaps it's a good idea to not risk being on this planet for more than a couple more hours," he said. Everyone nodded in agreement, though Lance and Hunk did so with a bit more reluctance than the others, not that Shiro could really fault them. It was rare that they came across a space mall or market while the Castle-Ship was low on supplies that they couldn't get from an ally in the coalition _and_ they didn't have any missions or recent reports of Galrans in the area. Still, they couldn't afford to relax completely because Shiro just knew that the moment they did, the Galra would figure out they were there and strike.

"Is everyone in agreement?" Allura asked and once again, everyone nodded. "Wonderful. Enjoy yourselves and please remember not to announce that you're a Paladin of Voltron," Allura reminded them. It had been something discussed while Allura was convincing Coran to let her explore the markets as well. In the end, they'd dressed in their civilian clothes but kept their bayards on their person so they weren't completely unarmed and agreed that they wouldn't mention anything about what their species was or who they were. Even Coran and Allura were going to morph their features slightly to disguise their Altean marks. Once everyone had nodded to show they'd remember and Black had lowered her ramp, Allura gave them a smile. "Go on and enjoy whatever the Mada markets have to offer!"

* * *

" _Lance, Hunk, we'll meet you both at the food stall run by the Avioids,"_ Allura said over their comms suddenly, making Lance jump minutely and earning himself five chuckles in his mind.

"Sure thing, Princess," Lance said quietly, trying not to draw attention to himself as he hid behind Hunk to further cover what he was doing. No one had commented to them about anything Voltron related but Lance didn't want to take the risk that someone would think he or Hunk looked familiar and pair it together with his use of Allura's title and figure it out. "We'll see you soon," he said, ending the conversation and rounding Hunk completely, trying to pass off his movements as him wanting a closer look at something on Hunk's other side. "Think Luis would like this?" Lance asked as he held up the first object he saw.

Hunk looked at the bauble and scrunched up his nose slightly. "I don't think it's his thing," he told Lance, who huffed as though annoyed before he placed it back on the table. "Are you hungry yet? I'm starved!" Hunk exclaimed, causing Lance to chuckle.

"Yeah, let's go and get some food. Hopefully the Avioids are here and cooking today," Lance said, preparing to lead Hunk away from the stall run by the winged alien watching them closely.

"They're set up two lanes away, halfway up the laneway on your right," the alien chirped, its clear, insect-like wings flittering slightly as it moved towards Lance's left and pointed in the direction it meant.

Lance was a little surprised by the instructions but gave the alien a wide smile. "Thank you very much," he said, bowing slightly to the stall-runner.

"You're welcome," it chittered before turning its attention to someone whose attention was caught by its wares and was more likely to purchase something than Hunk and Lance were now that they had lunch plans.

Following the helpful alien's instructions, Hunk and Lance headed for the stall Allura had told them to meet the others at. Considering neither of them knew what an Avioid looked like nor what their stall would look like, both were keeping their eyes peeled for their friends. It took them several minutes to get to where Shiro, Keith, Pidge, Coran and Allura were waiting, mainly due to how crowded the markets were and how far the food stall was from where Hunk and Lance had been. However, the time it took them to cover the distance was also drawn out by their attention being caught by stalls they passed by. More than once Lance found himself either pulled away by or pulling away Hunk when a stall looked too interesting for one of them to simply walk by without looking at it.

"Hey!" Hunk called, waving when he caught sight of Allura's long, white hair and Keith's red jacket. They were quick to spot Coran, Pidge and Shiro standing nearby as well.

"Hey, you two," Shiro greeted as they drew near. "Have fun?" he asked, eyes twinkling at the numerous bags the two of them held.

"There were so many stalls!" Lance exclaimed as he sat himself in the first spare chair he found, settling his bags next to him. Hunk mimicked his actions, feeling his post-shopping exhaustion creep up now that they weren't walking around. "But I think we've found something for everyone," Lance said, looking at Hunk, who nodded.

"I don't need to look for anyone else," he told them. "I wouldn't mind looking around a bit more but if we don't have the time, it's fine," he added.

Allura and Keith chose that moment to appear at the table, two big trays filled with food that Lance decided he didn't need to know the origins of. "I believe Pidge, Keith and Shiro have also found everything they wanted," Allura said, a slight questioning tone in her voice. "Coran and I have also seen everything we wish to see," she added when the three other Paladins nodded in answer to her previous statement.

Lance smiled in thanks for the food Allura handed to him. Ignoring the fact that it was green, Lance took a bite out of the first piece of food he picked up. Not totally disgusted by the apple flavour but banana texture of the food, Lance continued eating it. "So are we heading back to the ship after this?" he asked.

Allura looked at everyone before nodding. "I think it's a good idea. I believe we have pushed our luck long enough and if there's no reason for us to linger, we shouldn't," Allura said.

Lance couldn't help the disappointment he felt and not being able to explore the rest of the market and spend the remaining GAC he still had in his pouch but he didn't do anything more than nod. The lunch conversation turned from that to discussion about what everyone had bought, a topic that managed to last for the entirety of the near varga they spent at the table. Everyone bar Hunk and Lance had already deposited their purchases in Black since she was parked close by to the Avioids' food stall. Lance had repacked his and Hunk's purchases so they weren't carrying dozens of small bags but one large bag each while they were eating, something that his fingers and Hunk had thanked him for.

"Ready to leave?" Allura asked once the trays were cleared of food, leaving only the rubbish remaining. Coran was quick to dispose of the rubbish and return the trays before Lance could do so himself.

Hunk and Pidge had gotten caught up in a conversation around the tech that Pidge had found while everyone was finishing up their lunch and Lance chuckled slightly when Hunk went to leave without his bag. Scooping it up, Lance shook his head at his best friend while he carted both bags, having turned down Shiro's offer to take one. Between the five of them not caught in the conversation, they managed to herd Pidge and Hunk towards Black and weave through the crowd without disrupting their conversation.

Lance found himself lagging behind slightly, weighed down by the bags and his attention being drawn to stalls he hadn't managed to visit while with Hunk. Spotting a stall whose tables glittered with jewelry, Lance glanced over at the group who was now several metres ahead of him before he looked back at the jewelry. There was a bracelet that was exquisitely made, resting on the dark stone that helped the silver stand out but the thing that had grabbed Lance's attention was that it was set with delicate stones that were the exact shade of purple his mother loved most. Unable and unwilling to leave it there, Lance diverted to the stall and started haggling with the alien manning it until they reached a price that wouldn't leave Lance with absolutely nothing left in his coin pouch.

"Thank you for your business!" the alien said as it handed the wrapped bracelet over to Lance, having taken and counted the coins Lance had given it already.

"Thank you," Lance said as he tucked the wrapped bracelet carefully into his already full bag before he hurried up the laneway after the others, already going through the apology he'd have to offer them for falling so far behind once he was back at Black.

* * *

He barely made it to the halfway point to Black when he found himself overwhelmed by panic, fear, anger and disbelief that didn't belong to him. It was so strong and so sudden that Lance had gasped and stumbled slightly, accidentally bumping into a large alien the size of a grizzly bear, though covered in lizard-like skin rather than fur. "Sorry," Lance gasped as he righted himself and fought against the nausea that had built from the mix of feelings that weren't his own. "What's going on?!" Lance demanded mentally, even as he quickened his pace towards Black.

" _Lance! A group of aliens just kidnapped everyone!"_ Yellow told him, nearly wailing in her worry and fear for her Paladin and Lance's heart thudded into his throat.

"What?" he asked, stunned at what he'd just been told. He'd only lost sight of them for _maybe_ five minutes! "Where are they?" he asked before any of the Lions could repeat what Yellow had said.

" _They're still being moved towards wherever their kidnappers want to hold them,"_ Black told him. Lance could hear how much she was forcing herself to remain calm. _"Come back to me and I'll be able to show you where I sense Shiro is,"_ she instructed.

Lance wasted no time in doing as she told him to. At a flat run, it still took him ten minutes to get to Black, still disguised as a non-descript ship and he cursed himself for being so slow. Black didn't hesitate to bring her shield down or open her ramp up for Lance. He barely paused to place the two bags he still carried with the rest of the bags the others had obviously left before they'd found the stall where Hunk and Lance had joined them for lunch before he moved into the cockpit. He stopped in front of her console and gazed through her eyes as though he might be able to see his missing friends. "Have they stopped?" Lance asked as he watched the aliens below going about their business, completely unaware of the fact that most of Voltron had just been kidnapped.

" _Shiro told me that they've been taken into an underground facility,"_ Black told him quickly. _"They've not stopped as yet but Shiro promised he'd tell me when they have. I can sense the direction they're going and I can direct you to them,"_ Black said.

Lance nodded quickly. It had only been ten or fifteen minutes since they were taken and it made sense to Lance that the kidnappers would be moving them as far away from the busy market area as quickly as possible. "Did they search them? Have they found their bayards?" Lance asked.

" _Yes. They knew who they were. Allura's communication earring has been confiscated as well and I'm sure it won't be long until they realise everyone else is wearing one,"_ Black told him.

Lance frowned at that information. "Are they Galran? Is that how they knew who they were and to look for their bayards and Allura's earring?" Lance asked, musing more to himself than actually asking but Black had an answer anyway.

" _They aren't Galran but they are sympathetic to the Galra,"_ Black told him, a note of disgust in her voice that was echoed throughout the Lions in Lance's mind. _"The leader surmised correctly that the Paladins wouldn't be in the market unarmed and he somehow knew about the communication device because he didn't even question which earring it was before he ordered Allura to remove it,"_ Black revealed.

"I wonder if the Galra have released detailed descriptions about us and our weapons and technology to anyone who they know is on their side," Lance mused out loud. "Does Shiro know what their plan is?" he asked Black.

" _The leader has been gloating about capturing them and has hinted that they would be turning them over to the Galra in exchange for a monetary reward,"_ Black told him, her voice nearly a hiss as she repeated the words and Lance couldn't blame her.

"Okay, which way are they going?" Lance asked, checking his jacket's pockets and ensuring his bayard was still there. "I'm going after them."

Pride from the Lions filled him with warmth but Lance could also feel their fear, not only for their Paladin or their creator's daughter and his closest friend but for Lance himself as well. _"You have to be careful, Blue's Cub,"_ Black told him seriously. _"If they haven't noticed you're not there, they soon will and there will be a search party sent out to hunt you down,"_ she warned.

Lance patted the closest part of her wall he could reach. "I know and I will be careful. I have the five of you watching out for me," Lance said, giving them all a mental smile as he let them feel the faith he had that they would keep him safe and up to date on everything happening with their pilots.

" _Yes you do and we will make sure nothing happens to you if we can help it,"_ Red growled, a touch of protectiveness in her voice that Lance only ever heard when the Lion was telling him about Keith overworking himself in the training room or taking on too many enemies by himself. The tone had Lance's cheeks flushing a deep red.

" _Do you see that large, orange building?"_ Black asked, taking pity on Lance and diverting his attention from Red's words. Lance was quickly able to spot it. _"Head for it. They're in that direction but underground. I'll be able to give you more specific directions once you're closer to where Shiro is,"_ she told him.

Lance nodded as he headed back for her ramp. "I'll get them back as quickly as I can," Lance promised the four Lions who were missing their pilots, "and I'll be as safe as I possibly can be," he said, trying to reassure an anxious Blue.

" _I know you will be,"_ Blue said though her worry was barely soothed by Lance's words.

" _If you can't get them out without risking yourself, come back to me. We'll figure out another way to get to them,"_ Black instructed.

Though he made sure none of them could sense his thoughts on how he'd make sure they'd get out, even if meant his own safety, Lance did make sure they felt his conviction about getting them back. "I'll stay in contact with you," Lance promised as Black lowered her ramp. Lance eyed up the orange building once more before he headed straight for it, walking briskly so he would get to his friends quickly but wouldn't draw unnecessary attention to himself. "I'll have them back before you know it," he swore, feeling his nerves and fear fade as he slipped into his mission-ready attitude, knowing he couldn't risk something happening because this rescue mission was for his friends.

" _We know you will,"_ Yellow said with zero doubt in her tone. Lance allowed the warmth he felt at Yellow's and the four other Lions' confidence in him to linger as he headed in the direction his space family was being held hostage.

* * *

It took almost half an hour of careful tracking on each Lions part before Lance was approaching a rather poorly kept building that Black, Yellow, Green and Red agreed was where their pilots and the Alteans were being kept hostage. Pidge had allowed Green to view the route they'd been led down once they were escorted into the building through her eyes which meant Green was the Lion Lance was primarily talking with as he followed her instructions. His bayard was in its rifle form and he held it in front of him, ready to fire at a moment's notice but Lance was hoping he wouldn't have to use it before he found his team. The sound of his laser shots would draw the attention of everyone in this building and he had no clue how many enemies were in here so he didn't want to risk it.

" _Turn left here then turn right. There'll be a series of cells along that hallway. They're being held in the end one,"_ Green instructed as Lance headed further down in the building. The lack of natural light and increasingly cold air told Lance that this part of the building was buried within the surrounding dirt. The corridor he was walking down looked more like cave tunnel in how it was rounder in shape and lower in height than any corridor in the parts of the building that were above ground, however the builder had decided to slather cement – or whatever the space equivalent was – on the walls, floors and ceilings to give it extra strength. Lance felt a spike of adrenaline at the thought of being so close to his team but bit it down as he turned left. _"Right here,"_ Green repeated, her desire to get her pilot back before something happened to her overriding her patience.

Lance didn't comment as he took the turn, hiding himself on the corner until he'd cleared the hallway. Thankfully, there seemed to be no guards – something Lance thought was particularly stupid on the kidnappers' part but since it was working in his favour, he didn't bother thinking more on it. The thirty seconds it took for him to cross from one end of the corridor to the other were filled with tension. On his left was nothing but solid wall however the right side was lined with cells. Lance's heartbeat thudded in his ears as he approached the cell Green said everyone was being held in, sure that someone would appear behind him before he got there. However, he managed to make it to the cell with no one appearing and was delighted and relieved to find his six missing team members looking back at him with varying degrees of shock.

"Are any of you hurt?" Lance asked immediately, voice hushed as he lowered his rifle, holding it in his right hand but so the barrel of the gun was pointing to the ground.

"No, we are unharmed," Allura told him, speaking as lowly as he had, looking relieved and worried to see him. "How did you find us so quickly?" she asked.

Lance tapped the side of his head with his free hand. "The Lions tracked their pilots while Blue tracked me. They helped guide me here," Lance told her.

Now that he knew none of them were hurt, Lance's focus was on how he could get them out. The cell they were in looked like one of the dungeon cells Lance had seen in medieval era movies mixed with a cave. Though rounded rather than square, the cell's floor, walls and ceiling was covered in the same material as the rest of the building so Lance knew there was no way he could somehow dig them out. The bars that blocked the front of the cell looked like they would be a challenge to get through, though. At least as thick as Lance's forearm, they didn't even allow enough of a gap for Pidge to poke her arm all the way through. The lock on the door looked brand new, which meant Lance would likely have a harder time shooting it out, even if that had been his plan. However, Lance noted that the lock looked like it needed an old-fashioned key to open it and that gave him an idea.

"I'm gonna –" Lance started to say before a scuffling noise at the other end of the corridor caught his attention. Bringing his rifle back up, Lance sighted down the barrel as he waited to for someone to appear. If it was one person, Lance could drop them before they could raise the alarm and hide them in one of the cells easily enough. However… "Shit," Lance swore softly as his ears picked up the sound of multiple footsteps approaching them.

Allura, Coran and Keith all obviously heard what he had, judging from the worried looks on their faces. "Hide," Allura ordered, looking at Lance. "You won't be able to get any of us out of here if they find you and we have no allies in the immediate vicinity who we could call on, even if we could contact them," she told him firmly, cutting off Lance's protests.

Sagging slightly as the truth of her words sunk in, Lance quickly pulled himself together and looked around the immediate area for somewhere he could keep an eye on them while being out of sight of anyone out of the cell. It didn't take him long to spot an alcove – perhaps used as a storage shelf at some point – sitting carved into the wall opposite the cell the team was held in. He'd be within sight of his team and he'd have a clear view of the cell they were held in but – so long as no one turned around – he would be hidden from the kidnappers. With the sound of the footsteps growing louder by the second, Lance switched his bayard into its neutral form before he pointed out the alcove he'd spotted to his team so they knew where he was.

Once they'd nodded, Lance headed for it, using the handholds the wall unwittingly provided him to be able to climb up it without too much trouble. He swung himself in and felt the top of the alcove scrape his shirt and jacket up as they caught on the rough surface. He felt the jagged roof of the alcove dig into his exposed skin as he shifted himself further into it but he ignored the stinging pain. Since he could still hear the footsteps echoing, he knew the kidnappers were still outside the corridor so Lance shifted his bayard back into his rifle since there wasn't enough distance between him and the cell for him to be able to utilise his sniper rifle properly.

Hunk gave him a nervous look that Lance answered with what he hoped was a confident smile as the footsteps stopped echoing as whoever they belonged to turned into the corridor. Hunk's eyes left Lance as he and the others pretended he wasn't there in an effort to keep him safe. Hunk and Coran were watching the direction the kidnappers were approaching from while Pidge and Keith looked like they were ready to squeeze through the cell bars to attack whoever first appeared. Shiro and Allura held themselves in a defiant manner, giving off the impression that nothing these people could do or say to them would make them bow to their demands.

To Lance's dismay, over a dozen aliens pooled in front of the cell that held the team and he was positive there were more out of his sight, likely standing guard along the corridor and in the entrance. They looked to be of the same species, from what Lance could tell, and none of them looked nervous or worried about the fact that they had most of Voltron in a cell in front of them. Humanoid in build, Lance spotted the way the minimal light in the corridor provided by some kind of bulb along the ceiling glinted off their skin, telling him they were scaled, like a fish, which could mean his laser bullets wouldn't be as effective against them. However, that conclusion was changed when one of the alien's turned to his companion to say something and Lance spotted the gnarled scar running along his cheek. Lance couldn't see a single hair on any of them nor did he think they had eyelids since he hadn't seen them blink. What they _did_ have was at least two weapons each and Lance's dismay deepened. The biggest of the group stepped forward, effectively quieting those around him and drawing the attention of the captured humans and Alteans. Lance noted the coiled whip hanging on his belt and felt disgust grow at the sight of it since he knew it wasn't hanging there as a fashion statement.

"Where is the fifth Paladin?" the alien asked. Lance winced at the screechy tone of his voice. It was literally like someone dragging their nails down a chalkboard. "Your Blue Paladin?" he asked and it took all of Lance's self-control to not cover his ears and give away his position.

Not a single Paladin or Altean so much as glimpsed in Lance's direction, which he was thankful for since that would've been a dead giveaway if some clue-y alien had spotted that sign. Allura took a small step forward, chin held high as she met the leader's gaze unhesitatingly. "I am the Blue Paladin," she told him, obviously hoping her lie would be bought so that they would leave and Lance could get them out.

Lance saw the sneer and caught sight of the sharp, shark-like teeth in the alien's jaw. "No, you're the princess of a dead planet," he said, lips curling cruelly as Allura couldn't hold back her flinch at the reminder of her people's fate. A snap of his fingers had one of his underlings hand him a tablet and Lance watched as he manipulated the holographic viewer. "Where is your Blue Paladin?" he asked once more shifting slightly, giving Lance an unobstructed view of the photo he'd pulled up. Only months of training had prevented the gasp from escaping as he looked at a photo taken of them as they'd eaten lunch barely an hour ago in the market. It clearly showed Lance sitting between Hunk and Coran as they enjoyed their food.

Allura's eyes widened minutely, the only sign of her shock at having been stalked without realising it before she looked unwaveringly at the leader once more. "He'll have taken our pod back to our ship and contacted any ally close by to help find us," Allura lied smoothly once more.

The leader snorted in disbelief. "Your pod has not left the bay you landed it on," he informed them, "which means he couldn't have taken it back to your ship," he pointed out before his expression turned dangerous. "Tell us where your missing team member is before this conversation turns very painful for you," he snarled, exposing his sharp teeth. Lance's grip on his rifle tightened in response to the threat against his team.

Allura's expression turned stubborn as her eyes darkened in response to the snarled threat. "You'll not get us to betray our team member, no matter what you do to us," she informed him, voice filled with conviction.

A loud bang had Hunk, Pidge and Coran stepping back slightly from surprise as the lead kidnapper's fist hit the bars that separated them from him. "We'll see how you feel after some time with our specially made collars around your necks," he told them, smiling cruelly as he waved for someone out of Lance's sight to approach. "I've not met a species yet who can withstand more electricity running through them than your average Galran ship!" he informed them, a malicious glint in his eyes as they raked over them. "I think we'll start with the little one. I'm sure it won't take long for that one to break," he mused. Though she tried to hide it, Lance could still see the fear in Pidge's eyes as the leader accepted the first collar from the person who brought it to him. Shiro stepped in front of her protectively, an action that made the leader grin widely. "The first one of you to try something while I fit this on your teammate's neck will be killed where they stand," he told them as he pulled a key out of his pocket and placed it in the lock.

The moment the leader of them had the key in the lock, every single one of the kidnappers around him who were armed with them aimed their blasters at the cell, ready to follow through on their boss' threat. That was the moment Lance struck. Three kidnappers went down, chunks of skull and brain splattering everything in front of them before anyone could react. Another four were dispatched before anyone located Lance's snipers hold and fired a retaliatory shot. The laser bullet hit to the left of his head, spraying Lance with dust and debris but he didn't even flinch as he fired another three rounds, taking down two more kidnappers and injuring a third badly enough that Lance knew they wouldn't be getting back up. The leader hadn't been touched by Lance's bullets yet but he certainly didn't look pleased that the Blue Paladin had been under his nose the whole time.

One of the smaller kidnappers had managed to evade Lance's shots and got too close to the wall for him to get a clear shot. A glint told him the alien had unsheathed a knife and that his time in the alcove was now limited. The firefight had drawn the attention of any enemy out of Lance's sight, which allowed him to get a count on the remaining enemies facing him. A total of eight, including the leader, stood before him, making the enemy crawling up the wall number nine.

Lance took down two more quickly as they fired shots back, causing an almost constant sprinkling of dust and dirt to rain down on Lance as each shot missed by inches. The shout of his name a second before a deadly glint appeared in his peripheral vision warned Lance of the knife-wielding enemy's attack and he shifted as much to the side as he could, switching his rifle for his pistol as he did. The knife cut a gash into his left forearm and Lance's bit down a cry of pain as he fired a shot point-blank, sending the lifeless body of the enemy crashing back to the ground.

Glancing back over to where the leader and five remaining enemies still stood, Lance's eyes widened when he saw one of the aliens arm what looked to be a grenade launcher. Wasting no time, Lance scurried out of the alcove, dropping to the ground and rolling in a forward tumble just as the alcove he'd been hiding in exploded into chunks. The moment Lance was on his feet, he lined up the alien with the grenade launcher and fired a single shot, taking him down before he could rearm the weapon. As the only two aliens – aside from their leader – who weren't armed with long-range weapons raced for him, Lance fired two more shots and took down the two aliens with blasters so they wouldn't be able to get a shot in while he was fighting the others.

The move proved to have been a good one as Lance was struck hard enough that he was forced to drop his bayard, the weapon shifting back into its neutral form as it hit the ground to prevent anyone else from trying to use it against him. As Lance defended himself as best he could against two fighters who were as competent as Shiro was in hand-to-hand combat, he noticed Pidge trying to reach through the gap of the bars to get to the key the leader of the kidnappers had left in the lock. Lance ducked under a punch and blocked another thrown by his second opponent and noticed the leader was standing there and smirking at him, his eyes telling Lance that all of this fighting would be for nothing.

Fury roiled through Lance's veins at the fact he was still being underestimated by his enemies. He may not be as good as Shiro and Keith were in close combat, he may not be as smart as Hunk and Pidge were when it came to technology or mechanics and he may not be as smart as Allura and Coran were when it came to diplomacy and battle strategies but he was still a damned good Paladin and it was about time the universe realised that.

" _Shall we show him just how good a Paladin you are, my Pilot?"_ Blue asked, purring proudly in his mind as Lance avoided two more blows from his attackers and hit them both with one of his own, sending them reeling backwards a few steps. In the corner of his eyes, Lance saw another four aliens rushing down the corridor, likely the ones who had been guarding the entryway and had now just realised how badly this fight was going for their side.

Lance didn't bother asking what his Lion meant as he felt her ice power replace the anger simmering in his veins, "Let's do it," Lance said as he allowed himself to embrace the frigid ice that belonged to his Lion. He didn't give the aliens the chance to react to his glowing blue eyes before he struck them with his ice, encasing them inside it within seconds.

"Well, now, that is certainly an interesting ability," the leader of the kidnappers said, the screeching timbre of his voice causing everyone who didn't belong to his species to flinch slightly. Lance stayed still, focusing on keeping Blue's ice under his control so he didn't accidentally hurt his team as he watched the leader unclip the whip Lance had spotted coiled on his hip. The four aliens who had joined the fight looked at the uncoiled whip with a small amount of fear and Lance just knew they'd either found themselves on the other end of the weapon or had witnessed close friends or family being struck by it. "I can't wait to see how it holds up against this," the leader said, grinning as he flicked his wrist and watched Lance's expression as flames licked their way down the length of the whip, leaving only the handled untouched by them.

"Lance." The Blue Paladin heard the scared whisper of his name as he took up a fighting stance. His body ached from the bruising blows that had landed and his left forearm throbbed hotly where the knife had slashed him but he didn't let any of it show. Calling on Blue's power once more, Lance created an ice spear thick enough that his fingers barely touched as they wrapped around the shaft of it.

"Neither can I," Lance snarled. His words only made the alien leader's grin widen as Lance faced him defiantly while the four other aliens held blasters aimed for Lance.

For a moment, no one moved as they eyed one another. Then, without warning, the leader struck, flicking out his whip quickly and causing Lance to dodge to the left to avoid the tail of the whip and the flames on it. At the same time, the four other aliens started firing on Lance, careful not to get in their boss' way as they did so, which helped Lance out immensely as he could focus more on the whip. Still, a laser shot came a little too close for his comfort and Lance was forced to retaliate against the long-range weapon users before their aim got any better.

Lance took one down with the spear in his hand, which would've left him essentially weaponless if it hadn't been for Blue's power, which he used to freeze the three other blasters over, preventing them from being able to be fired. However, in doing so, he neglected to watch the leader's whip as carefully as he should've been and his eyes widened in fear as the flaming whip came straight for him. It seemed like the world moved in slow motion as he took in the horrified looks on his team's faces and the victorious expression on the leader's face as the flaming whip stretched to grab him.

"Blue!" he called urgently for his Lion's power just as he raised his right arm instinctively to protect his face from the weapon. She answered his call just in time and he was quick to utilise a trick he'd learned fighting against Shiro in the secondary training room.

Ice spread rapidly along his skin, forming a thick barrier under his jacket and shirt just as the whip wrapped around his forearm. The shouts of Lance's name were cut off when his team saw the steam billowing out of his sleeve where the flaming whip met the ice armour Lance had formed. He saw the leader of the kidnappers snarl as he realised Lance had managed to defend himself, meaning the fight wasn't won in his favour yet. The three other aliens still alive were trying to either free their hands from the iced blasters or get the ice off the barrel so the weapons could be used.

"Clever," the leader admitted before he smirked, "but not clever enough," he said and Lance watched as the orange flames were devoured by blue ones, a clear indication that he'd turned the temperature of the flames up.

"Keep it up, Blue," Lance said as he felt the flames melt through his ice, getting closer to his unprotected skin than he would've liked while the leader tried to use the grip on his forearm to pull Lance closer to him.

With his focus primarily on trying to stop the fiery whip from melting through his ice armour, Lance was struggling to send ice towards the whip's user in an attempt to stop him permanently. His ice slowly crept towards the leader's feet but it wasn't moving fast enough to prevent him from escaping once Lance had a grip on him and Lance knew it. He hadn't trained with trying to use his ice in two vastly different ways simultaneously and it was showing. Any time he tried to focus more on the ice he was sending towards the kidnapper, Lance could feel the ice shielding his arm from the burning whip weaken and it was the same if he focused more on his ice armour.

"I can see your exhaustion, Blue Paladin," the leader sneered, obviously disgusted at how tired Lance was getting from this fight but Lance paid him no attention as he fought to keep control over Blue's power. He'd never used it like this and he'd never used it for this long and it was taking a toll on him, both physically and mentally.

" _I won't let you lose control of my power, Cub. I know you can do this,"_ Blue whispered encouragingly in his mind and Lance felt some strength return to him.

An idea formed suddenly and Lance almost huffed as he imagined the lectures he was going to get from following through on his idea. "On my mark, I need you to send as much of your ice power as you think I can handle," Lance told her, preparing himself for what he was going to do.

Blue didn't seem awfully impressed with his plan but she could feel his armour slipping as the flames on the whip melted through it a little quicker. _"On your mark, my pilot,"_ she agreed.

Lance winced as he pulled back Blue's ice power slightly, stopping it from creeping towards the leader and abandoning his efforts to reinforce the ice shield around his arm. He had only moments before the whip melted through what remained of it and the pain would prevent him from following through on his plan. Centering himself, Lance breathed in deep and called for Blue's power. A surge far stronger than he'd ever felt flowed through him as he took a step forward, surprising just about everyone around him as he grabbed on to the fiery whip, ignoring the way his palm and fingers screamed in pain as he did so and sent all of Blue's power coursing through him into the whip.

The leader watched, stunned, as ice devoured his weapon, destroying it as it crept into every crevice along the whip. Lance continued powering the attack, his eyes glowing with his and Blue's power and anger. The leader figured out the full intention of Lance's move moments too late. Even as he dropped the handle of the whip, Lance's ice was already covering his fingers, racing up his arm before choking off any sound he went to make as it finished encasing him, freezing him where he stood. The three surviving members of the kidnapping group watched at their boss was killed in front of them before they fled down the corridor, blasters still frozen uselessly to their hands.

Lance watched them flee before he allowed Blue to slowly recall her power. "Lance?" the call from Hunk captured Lance's attention as he shook the coiled whip off his arm, letting it drop to the ground. Lance looked over at Hunk questioningly. "Are you okay?" Hunk asked, clinging to the bars as he tried to be as close to Lance as he possibly could be.

"Yeah," Lance said immediately, stumbling slightly as Blue finished taking her power back and leaving Lance to be hit with every ounce of exhaustion that came with using her ability. "Okay, maybe 'okay' is too strong of a word," Lance admitted, shaking his head to try and clear some of the tiredness he felt. "Let's get you out of there," Lance said before any of them could say anything.

Skirting around the dead bodies that littered the floor, Lance made his way over to the locked door and was relieved to see the key still in it. His original idea of using Blue's ice to create a makeshift key would've still been on the table but honestly, using her power just that little bit more probably would've made Lance lose consciousness and he did not want that. Unthinkingly, Lance reached for the key with his right hand only to pull it back and cradle it against his chest with a pained hiss. Blinking back the tears that were summoned by the action and ignoring his teammates' worried noises, Lance reached out with his left hand, ignoring the stinging pain from the earlier cut and unlocked the cell door.

Shiro wasted no time in opening the door and grabbing Lance before the Blue Paladin could move, ensuring he wouldn't collapse from exhaustion before Coran managed to look at him. "Coran," Shiro said, the one word being enough of an order for Coran to get into action.

"That was really something, my boy!" Coran said as he carefully grasped Lance's right wrist, causing Lance to stutter out a pained gasp as Coran coaxed him to roll his arm over so his palm faced the ceiling. "It's obvious you and Blue have really been working hard on developing your skills in using her element!" he praised before he winced in sympathy as he tugged Lance's fingers gently so they were stretched out, giving Coran a clear view of the injury.

"Keith, did they take your spare knife?" Shiro asked as he forced himself to look away from the deep, painful looking burn wounds to Lance's palm and fingers. It wasn't the worst injury he'd seen on someone but this injury was caused solely because Lance had come to their aide after they'd gotten themselves kidnapped. If not for them falling into the ambush, Lance wouldn't be choking down pained noises.

"No, they didn't find it," Keith said, pulling it out from where he'd tucked it into his right boot before they'd left Black the second time.

Shiro nodded in answer. "Take Hunk and Pidge and go looking for your bayards," Shiro ordered. Hunk did not look happy about being ordered to leave his best friend but though Shiro gave him an understanding look, there was also a look that told Hunk to get going. "Allura, can you find Lance's bayard, please?" Shiro asked as the trio of younger Paladins headed down the corridor, Hunk and Pidge behind Keith, who had shifted his Mamora blade into a sword.

Allura nodded and started looking around for the missing blue bayard. Satisfied, Shiro shifted his attention back to Lance and Coran, who was clicking his tongue sympathetically as he pulled the burned remains of Lance's jacket and shirt sleeves away from the rest of the injury. Shiro watched as Coran tugged the charred and soaked pieces down Lance's hand, being careful of the deeper injury and was relieved to find that the burns wrapping Lance's forearm looked to be no worse than a severe sunburn. Lance noticed the relieved expression.

"Blue's ice armour held until the last moment," Lance told him, voice ragged with exhaustion. "When I used that last attack, I wasn't focusing on the shield of ice around my arm so the whip managed to melt through it a second before I destroyed the whip. The burns on my arm aren't as severe because the whip wasn't alight for long enough once it got through the shield to do any real damage," he explained, eyes drooping slightly.

Shiro squeezed him tightly as Coran continued removing the ruined pieces of clothing from Lance's arm. "I'm so sorry you got hurt at all," Shiro said, his voice close to a whisper. Lance shook his head, silently protesting the apology but didn't get to say anything as Allura interrupted them.

"I found it," the Altean princess announced as she held out the deactivated blue bayard. Her eyes glistened with concern as she saw the injury to Lance's palm and fingers for the first time. "Oh, Lance," she murmured softly. Only Coran's quick reflexes stopped Lance from curling his fingers into his palm to hide his injury from her eyes.

"It's alright, Allura," Lance told her, giving her the strongest smile he could manage at that moment, which wasn't as strong as he'd hoped for. "It'll heal up with no problems," he assured her. The wound was deep but since he could move all of his fingers and feel the pain, Lance was certain it meant no major nerves or important muscles had been burned through, which was a good sign for a full recovery.

"We need to get him back to the Castle-Ship as soon as possible," Coran said as he finished what he was doing with Lance's right arm and focusing on his left. Thankfully, the gash wasn't that deep so Coran settled for using part of his shirt as a bandage to stem the bleeding since they didn't have access to a first-aid kit. "He needs to go into a cryopod as soon as possible so that that injury does heal completely," he said, giving Lance a reassuring smile before he pinned Shiro and Allura with a serious look.

Shiro nodded before Allura or Lance could say anything. "Let's move then. We have no idea how far from Black we are," Shiro said, helping Lance turn and walk since it was obvious the fight and using Blue's powers had really taken a lot out of him.

"It took me thirty minutes – uh, dobashes, sorry, Allura and Coran – to get to you guys once I left Black but I needed to be careful since the Lions and I didn't know if they were already looking for me. We're probably only fifteen, maybe twenty dobashes from her," Lance told him, not bothering to protest against the help Shiro was giving him, a telltale sign of how exhausted he really was.

"Looks like we have a fair hike ahead of us!" Coran said, his voice his usual level of cheerfulness though Shiro knew it was more an attempt to keep Lance relaxed than a true reflection of the orange-haired Altean's feelings.

"Maybe Black will be nice and fly herself closer," Lance murmured, blinking slowly as he focused on trying to put one foot in front of the other and stay upright.

Shiro could feel Black's desire to do so but since her Paladin wasn't in life-threatening danger, she couldn't and Blue wouldn't be able to fly herself to come to Lance's aide since his life wasn't in danger either and she wasn't close enough. "Maybe," Shiro said in agreement, despite knowing that Black couldn't. He had a feeling that Lance wouldn't be able to stay awake long enough to know whether Black did or not.

The four of them rounded the end of the corridor the cells were situated in to find Hunk, Keith and Pidge jogging back towards them. A glance at their hands told Shiro that their search had been successful. "Is he alright?" Hunk immediately asked, looking three seconds away from taking Lance from Shiro so he could fret over him.

"He'll be fine. We just need to get him to a pod," Shiro told Hunk when it was apparent that Lance wasn't going to answer Hunk's question himself, likely too tired to do so.

Hunk relaxed a little but it was obvious he was still extremely worried about his best friend. Shiro didn't comment on the way Hunk lingered on Lance's other side, all but shoving Allura out of the way as they started their trek out of the building. "We didn't see anyone else while we were looking for our bayards," Hunk said, his anxiousness apparently deciding to show itself verbally.

"Well, we know at least three of them survived Lance's attack," Shiro said, recalling the three aliens who'd been unfortunate enough to have their blasters iced to their hands. "We'll need to keep our eyes open for them," he instructed. "You three will lead us out. Bayards at the ready," he ordered. Hunk didn't put up a fight, though he didn't look happy to be asked to leave Lance's side once more and soon he, Keith, and Pidge were leading the way.

"Shiro?" Lance called softly after a couple of moments. Shiro looked down to see Lance's brow furrowed slightly in confusion as he blinked rapidly.

"What's the matter?" the Black Paladin asked concernedly.

"I don't feel well," Lance admitted. "I don't think I can stay awake," he told him and Shiro barely managed to hold back his sigh of relief.

"You were pushed hard today, Lance," Shiro told him as they continued the slow walk out of the building. Both Allura and Coran shot Shiro a concerned look but he shook his head at them, telling them silently that he didn't need their help right now.

Lance stayed quiet for a couple of moments as he fought against the sleepy fog that was seeping into his brain. "Can you -?" Lance started to ask before he cut himself off. Shiro was worried that Lance was falling back onto his old habit of not asking for help when he needed it only to see that Lance was trying to stifle a yawn. "Can you help me back to the Castle?" Lance asked, making an aborted move to rub his eyes, only stopping when his burns quickly reminded him they were still there and untreated.

"Of course I can, Lance," Shiro told him immediately, heart swelling slightly that Lance had decided to ask rather than give into the exhaustion pulling at him, which would've saved him from admitting to something he would've seen as a weakness only a few weeks ago.

"Thanks," Lance said, slurring the word slightly. Shiro barely broke his stride as he scooped Lance up into a bridal carry, taking care with his injuries as he did so. Lance either didn't notice the worried looks the others were giving him or he didn't care as he rested his head against Shiro's shoulder. "Night," Lance murmured, falling asleep before the word really finished leaving his lips and causing Shiro to chuckle slightly.

"He's fine," Shiro said, reassuring his team the moment Lance was asleep. "He's just exhausted from using Blue's power and fighting," he told them.

"We'd best hurry and get him back to the Castle-Ship," Allura said, a concerned frowning marring her features as she looked at Lance. "I want to make sure his quintessence wasn't affected too badly by what he did," she said.

It was a concern that she'd raised a few times since they'd discovered Lance's ability. Allura had noted the slight drop in Lance's internal quintessence shortly after his return from Tra'Crolle and realised what it had meant when he gave them the report of what had happened. Since then, she'd been keeping an eye on his quintessence levels almost every time he used Blue's ice powers to try and gauge how much was too much and whether his quintessence drain was decreasing the more he practiced with Blue's ice. Shiro knew Allura would be wanting to run her tests as soon as she could but there was no way they could risk her doing so in a building that might still be crawling with enemies.

"Right," Shiro said, shifting Lance slightly in his arms. "Let's get out of here."

* * *

Once again, Lance found himself waking up to an unfortunately familiar hiss and the feeling of falling forwards. He was caught by a familiar set of arms and reached up to hug Hunk back before blinking his eyes open and finding himself surrounded by everyone else watching him anxiously. "Morning?" he asked, earning a relieved chuckle from Hunk and some smiles from most of those in the room.

"Afternoon, actually," Hunk corrected before he pulled himself away from Lance so he could look at him properly. That move gave Pidge the chance she needed to get in close enough to hug Lance briefly but tightly around the waist before she let go. "How are you feeling, dude?" Hunk asked, eyes flicking over Lance's form as though he could tell for himself. Pidge was silent but her glare was daring Lance to try and lie to them.

Lance frowned as he fought off the last of the fogginess that came from cryo-sleep so he could remember what had happened to him this time. He almost choked on a breath as he remembered what he'd done to win the fight against the large alien kidnapper and looked down quickly at his right arm. Raising it so he could see it closer, Lance noted the slight scarring on his palm and fingers before he turned his arm over, checking for more signs of the injury but found none. "I'm alright," Lance said, curling his hand into a fist and uncurling it, feeling relieved when there wasn't any sign of nerve damage or lingering issues. Pidge and Hunk seemed mollified by his answer but it was soon apparent not everyone was.

"Are you sure?" Shiro asked, unable to help himself. He'd seen the burns to Lance's hand and even though he'd been reassured by Coran several times while Lance was in the pod, he couldn't help but ask.

Lance clenched and unclenched his fist a couple of times before nodding. "I'm sure," he said, giving Shiro an honest smile that saw the Black Paladin relax slightly.

Coran stepped forward so he was on Lance's other side. "All of you can clear out so I can check Lance's scans and so he can get dressed out of the cryosuit," Coran ordered, making shooing motions at everyone, including Allura.

"I want to check his quintessence levels again," Allura told Coran, refusing to move.

Lance looked worried. "Were they okay? Did I use too much?" he asked, knowing what the risks were of draining his quintessence levels too quickly. Both Keith and Shiro looked concerned but a look from Coran had them silently clapping Lance on the shoulder or back before they headed out the room, likely reminding themselves they'd hear Allura's report on Lance's quintessence levels later on.

Allura replaced Hunk, once a determined Pidge managed to get him to move by telling Hunk that he'd be able to fuss over Lance later – something that made Lance almost flush –, and patted Lance's arm soothingly. "No, you didn't but I'd still like to check them and talk to you," Allura told him. Lance didn't look awfully placated by her words but he nodded.

"You may wait outside while Lance gets changed, Princess," Coran told her. Allura gave a nod as she squeezed Lance's arm gently before she headed out of the room, closing the door behind her. "Let's get you scanned first, my boy," Coran said, leading Lance over to the closest bed and gesturing for him to sit on it. "Right arm first, I think," the Altean said as he grabbed his portable scanner and faced Lance once more.

Lance dutifully held out his right arm for Coran to scan and let him do so in silence. It didn't take Coran more than a minute to scan him entirely and let Lance relax slightly as he checked the results. "All good?" Lance asked as he tried to subtly peer over Coran's side to view the tablet the scanner's reading were sent to.

"You're completely fine, my boy! Just as you said you were," Coran told him, pinning him with a beaming smile. "There's no lingering nerve damage from the burns so I can positively say that you've made a full recovery," he said.

"That's good," Lance said, sighing a little. His right hand was his trigger hand. If it had been hurt any worse and the cryopod hadn't been able to heal it completely, he would've had to either switch to left-hand shooting, which would've likely resulted in subpar shooting on his part or he would've had to go through months of rehabilitation exercises to try and get his hand back to full strength. "How long was I out for this time?" he asked curiously as Coran handed him a clean set of clothing provided by the Castle-Ship. Lance mourned the loss of his olive-green jacket but knew there would've been no saving it from the damage it suffered. He was lucky the ice shield had soaked his sleeves enough they hadn't caught fire.

Coran turned purposefully away from Lance, giving him some privacy so he could slip into the comfortable pair of loose slacks and t-shirt. "Only a quintet this time," Coran told him cheerfully.

Lance was a little surprised. "Really? I thought my hand would've taken longer to heal. It was a pretty nasty burn," he commented idly as he pulled off the cryosuit and tugged on his pants quickly.

"No, I believe your injury simply looked worse than it actually was," Coran said, turning around just as Lance finished pulling on his shirt. "Are you ready for Allura to run her scans?" he asked and Lance nodded as he picked up the cryosuit off the floor. Coran took it from him and sent it down the laundry chute on his way to let Allura into the cryo-wing. "Lance is dressed now," Coran told the waiting princess, who wasted no time in coming back into the room.

"How are you feeling, Lance?" Allura asked as soon as she was standing in front of the Cuban teenager.

"Tired," Lance admitted. "I think it's a little more than the usual tiredness I feel after being in the cryopod," he said. Allura didn't seem surprised by the news but raised her hands before silently asking for Lance's permission, which he gave with a nod. An array appeared in front of Allura's hands as she used it to take an internal scan of Lance's quintessence. "What's the verdict, princess?" Lance asked once the pink light had died down.

"Your levels are holding steady though you did suffer a massive drain," Allura told him. Coran was pretending to be busy as he tried to give them some semblance of privacy. "Your levels have risen thanks to being in the cryopod but they're not back up to full capacity," she said. "I would like for you to limit your use of Blue's power to missions in the next four quintets and only if you absolutely have to use them," she requested.

As much as Lance didn't want to, he agreed. Allura hadn't sugarcoated what could happen to him if he used too much of his quintessence too quickly. The best-case scenario in that situation would see Lance in a coma until his levels were back up to an acceptable level. Though his constant training with Shiro and his ice powers meant that Lance was getting better at controlling how much of his quintessence was used with each attack, he still had a long way to go before he could use Blue's power for longer than a minute without a substantial drain to his levels. "Blue and I will stop training until you say otherwise," Lance promised. His reluctance at agreeing to her request lessened when he saw how much she relaxed with his words.

"Thank you, Lance," she said before straightening up slightly. "Do you feel up to joining us for a meal? I believe Hunk has been cooking ever since Coran told us when you would be released from the pod," she told him.

Lance grinned. "Yeah, I think eating would be a good idea," he told her as he slid off the bed, grimacing when his bare feet hit the cold ground. "I'll probably sleep better with a full stomach and you did say that eating will help me recover my quintessence faster," Lance said, stretching his stiff muscles as he spoke.

"Yes, eating will help you recover quicker," Allura agreed. "Coran, will you be joining us?" she asked her advisor, who stopped his unnecessary cleaning to focus on her.

"Yes, I will," Coran told her, smiling at both of them as he joined them. "Shall we?" he asked, getting ready to lead them both out since he knew Allura would stay next to Lance, just in case.

Lance's stomach growled before he could verbally respond, causing the Alteans to chuckle while his cheeks pinked slightly. "Let's go," Lance said with a laugh as he allowed Allura to loop her arm around his and lead him forward.

* * *

"Lance!" Hunk greeted his best friend the moment he saw him enter the dining room with Allura and Coran. "Was everything alright your scans? What about your quintessence? Are you hungry? Do you want some food?" Hunk asked rapidly, unintentionally stopping anyone else from saying anything to any of the three new arrivals.

"Relax, _hermano_ , and let me answer," Lance laughed as he tugged his arm from Allura's grip and sat down next to his worried best friend. "I'm fine. The scans said I am completely healed and don't have anything to worry about. Allura doesn't want me using Blue's power for the next four days unless it's life or death and, yes, I am hungry and would really like some food," Lance told him.

"Good 'cuz you had me really worried!" Hunk told him, using Lance's closeness to him to grab him in a tight one-armed hug and pull him into his side. Lance was released almost as quickly so that Hunk could pile his plate high with a little bit of everything in front of them. "I made space spaghetti – since we managed to figure out how to make pasta with what we have – and space meatballs. There's also space garlic bread and the closest thing I could get to cheesy potatoes, though they're a bit crunchy instead of soft," Hunk explained as he dished himself a bit of everything too, gesturing for the others to do the same.

"Thanks, Hunky! It looks and smells freaking amazing!" Lance praised, mouth watering slightly as he inhaled the scent of the food in front of him. His stomach growled lowly once more in response to the scent coming from the food and it took all of his self-control to wait for everyone else to get something on their plate before he dug in. "Dude, you are a fricking culinary genius and I will fight anyone who says otherwise," Lance told him after he swallowed his first bite.

"Thanks, Lance," Hunk said, a pleased flush on his cheeks that only darkened when everyone else praised his cooking after they'd managed to take their first bites.

" _Are you well, my cub?"_ Blue asked as Lance continued to eat. He'd felt her react when he first woke up but knew she'd been holding back from asking until he'd gotten a bit of food in his system. He could sense the four other Lions on the edge of his mind but it was obvious they were holding back out of respect for Blue for the moment.

"I am," he promised her. "I'll come and see you once I'm finished dinner. I think I'll camp in my little alcove, if you won't mind the company?" he asked and felt her scoff at him.

" _I would never turn down your company,"_ she told him, sounding a little scandalized by the thought of it.

"Awesome," he said in response, grinning a little at her tone. "Are you okay? Me using that much of your powers didn't hurt you in some way, did it?" he asked worriedly.

Blue purred in his mind, touched by his concern. _"I am fine, my little one,"_ she assured him.

The sound of his name being called got Lance's attention and, after apologising hastily to Blue, he looked up from his plate to find the others watching him with various degrees of worry and concern on their faces. "Sorry, I was talking to Blue," Lance told them. "What's up?" he asked.

"You kind of paused while you were eating and we were curious about why," Pidge told him.

Lance chuckled sheepishly. "Yeah, Blue was checking up on me," he repeated. "Sorry to worry you," he said but the apology was waved off by everyone.

"It's fine. I'm surprised she waited this long to check on you," Shiro admitted.

"Yeah, she wanted to wait until I'd gotten some food into me first," Lance told him. "I told her I'd go and see her after we've eaten so she can see I'm okay with her own eyes," he said, taking another bite of his food. "How are you guys?" Lance asked, feeling a little guilty that he hadn't done so to start with.

"We're fine," Shiro said, backed up by nods from everyone else. "None of us were hurt beyond a couple of bruises and small grazes. You got to us before anything worse could happen," Shiro said, giving Lance a proud smile.

"Yes, you did exceptionally well to find us so quickly," Allura said, "and you handled yourself well when you had to fight," she praised.

Lance shrugged a shoulder subconsciously. "The Lions helped me a lot in finding you. I don't think I would've been able to get to you guys as quickly as I had if they hadn't helped," Lance said, "and I wouldn't have won that fight without Blue's help either," he added, unable to help but deflect the praise and attention from himself.

"Yes, you mentioned that the Lions helped track us and lead you to us and we have thanked the five of them for doing so," Allura said and Lance heard the agreeing hums in his mind from the Lions, telling him the princess was telling the truth, "but they wouldn't have been able to do that if they hadn't bonded with you all those phoebes ago when they saw your potential. Blue certainly wouldn't have been able share her power with you if she didn't believe in and care for you as her Paladin as much as she does," Allura said, refusing to let Lance just dismiss his own importance in the role he'd played in finding them and helping them escape from their kidnappers' clutches.

"How come you weren't with us when we were ambushed?" Keith asked suddenly, surprising just about everyone with the unexpected question. "Did something happen to you?" he asked. If this had happened a few weeks ago and Keith had asked the same questions, Lance would've puffed up in anger since he would've assumed Keith was accusing him of slacking off or doing whatever he wanted but Lance now knew that the Red Paladin was asking because he was curious and worried.

"Ha, actually, funny story," Lance said, preparing himself for the lecture he knew he'd receive. "I was distracted by a jewelry stall while we were heading to Black after lunch. There was a really nice bracelet I knew my mother would love and I couldn't leave it there," he admitted.

"Thank goodness for that," Shiro said while Keith almost sagged in relief. Lance was sure his eyebrows merged with his hairline in surprise. "Who knows what would've happened if you'd been with us when we were ambushed. I don't know how we would've gotten out of that without our sharpshooter backing us up," Shiro said, unable to fully hide his grin at the way Lance's cheeks flushed darkly at his words.

"Yeah, dude!" Pidge said enthusiastically. "You were a total badass! I knew Green was leading you to us but I didn't think you'd get there so quickly and you totally owned those guys!" she told him.

"I can't believe how well you were able to adapt to everything thrown at you," Allura said, shaking her lightly. "You've certainly improved tremendously in your close combat fighting and you did exceptionally well in identifying which targets you needed to take down first," she told him. "However, I did notice you were struggling with the alien in charge of the whole kidnapping before you used that last attack against him. Was there a reason for that and is there some way we can help make sure you aren't in a situation like that where you have to choose between obtaining a possibly debilitating injury to win the fight or losing again?" she asked.

Lance noted that the glare Hunk had pinned Allura with when she mentioned Lance's struggles was gone by the end of her question and he patted his friend's arm, silently thanking him for the slightly unnecessary protectiveness he'd shown. "I couldn't use the two moves I was trying to use at the same time. I couldn't split my focus between trying to protect my arm and freeze him from the feet up evenly and I knew that even if I was able to hold Blue's power for as long as I needed to, he would've been able to avoid the ice because I didn't have the ability to make that attack go faster while trying to protect my arm with ice like I was," he told her. "I never thought to practice using two completely different moves at one time during training. For some reason, I never thought I'd have to attack someone _and_ defend myself with Blue's element at the same time," he admitted, a touch of shame in his voice.

"I don't think any of us thought there would be a time where you would be by yourself against enemies like that and have no back-up coming to help," Shiro told him. "Don't beat yourself up for not thinking about that when no one else did either," he instructed Lance gently.

"I think this whole incident has shown us that there are still some things we need to train for," Allura announced. "Once Lance has fully recovered his quintessence, we will see about incorporating this kind of training into your sessions. We can't be caught out like that and rely on one person being able to save us again," she said firmly.

Shiro nodded in agreement. "I think it would be a good idea to set up something like that and possibly some training sessions where we've all been 'captured' and need to get ourselves out without relying on our weapons," he said.

Allura nodded so enthusiastically that Lance was actually worried about how she would go about setting up these scenarios and a glance at Hunk and Pidge told him they were as well. Keith's own wariness wasn't as well hidden as he thought it was but Lance decided to tease him about it later. Instead, Lance scooped the last of his meal into his mouth and stood once he finished eating. "Thanks for the meal, bro," he said, nudging Hunk on the shoulder. "I'm gonna go and visit my favourite girl before she tears the Castle-Ship into pieces from her impatience," he said, chuckling slightly when Blue petulantly pouted that she wouldn't have done that just yet.

His comment caused a few chuckles and smiles as the team imagined Blue's impatience in action. "That's probably a good idea," Allura said, a fond smile on her face as she felt Blue's reaction to the teasing.

"Will you be alright getting to her hangar by yourself?" Hunk asked, worry in his voice. It wasn't exactly unfounded since Lance hadn't been the only one to underestimate how tired they were after a stint in the cryopod and overexerted themselves.

Lance gave him a warm but reassuring smile. "I'll be fine," he said honestly and Hunk nodded, satisfied he wasn't trying to pretend he was feeling better than he was. "I'll probably nap in her for a bit so don't panic if you can't find me," Lance told everyone. He didn't want a repeat of what had happened after Tra'Crolle where he'd come out of the cryopod a bit early and had slept in Blue only to be woken up by her growling when everyone had come into the main hangar bay to find him and Keith had started yelling at her.

Hunk batted Lance's hands away when he tried to gather his dirty plates. "Nope, go and see your Lion. I'll take these into the kitchen," Hunk told him.

Lance opened his mouth to argue since Hunk had been the one to cook but the glare from his best friend had him raising his hands in surrender. "Alright," Lance said, backing away slightly, much to the amusement of everyone else. Hunk just looked pleased that Lance had listened to him. "Thank you for the delicious food, Hunk," Lance said once more. "See you guys later," he said to everyone else, pairing it with a wave that was returned with either nods or waves as well.

Deciding it was best to not linger and risk Blue's wrath because someone held him up a little longer, Lance headed out of the dining room to start the trek to Blue's hangar bay. Though no one had corrected him when he said that that was where he was going, Lance still checked with his Lion that she was actually in her hangar and hadn't somehow been moved to the main hangar bay or somewhere else. Blue confirmed that she was so Lance had thanked her and continued heading that way, even though Lance hadn't fully appreciated the amusement in her voice at his question.

* * *

He made it most of the way to Blue's hangar when a call of his name had Lance turning around to find Shiro jogging in order to catch up with him. "Hey, man, what's up?" Lance asked curiously since he'd only just left the dining room a few minutes ago and Shiro hadn't indicated that there was something pressing on his mind during the meal. A glance behind the approaching Paladin showed that no one else was following him and this ramped up Lance's curiousity further.

"I realised that I hadn't thanked you for finding us so quickly while you were in the dining room. I'm sure Black told you what the kidnappers had planned for us," Shiro said and Lance nodded, wincing slightly at the reminder that the kidnappers had planned on selling his space family to the Galra. "I also wanted to apologise to you," Shiro told him.

Lance's brows creased in a frown. "Why?" he asked, perplexed. As far as he knew, Shiro hadn't done anything that he'd need to apologise to Lance for.

"I wasn't paying attention while we were heading back for Black and I missed the signs that we were walking into a trap. You wouldn't have had to find us or get that badly hurt in order to save us if I had been paying attention," Shiro told him.

Lance's confusion quickly turned into shock. "Shiro, you don't have to apologise for that!" Lance told him. "No one was expecting us to be attacked while returning to Black. Allura and Coran didn't notice anything amiss either and they're trained to read crowds better than we are," Lance pointed out. "Plus, it wasn't you who decided I'd use that kind of move and end up with those burns. That was on me and I'd do it again if it meant keeping you guys safe," Lance informed him.

"You shouldn't have gotten hurt because of us though. We should've fought back at least," Shiro said but Lance shook his head.

"You couldn't have fought back without risking the civilian aliens in the marketplace," Lance told him. "I don't know how they managed to kidnap all six of you without causing a panic but they did which meant they were very good. You probably had no idea how many there were and what would happen if you fought back and I'm glad you didn't," Lance admitted. "It would've been virtually impossible for me to find you guys as quickly as I did if the marketplace was on high alert and you guys probably would've gotten hurt if you fought back," he said.

Shiro didn't look happy but Lance knew it was because he couldn't come up with a good counter argument, which meant he was going to have to admit Lance was right and that he wasn't to blame for Lance getting hurt. However, that didn't mean Shiro was going to stop blaming himself. "Still…" Shiro said but stopped when Lance tutted at him.

"Uh-uh, nope. There was nothing you could've done to stop the ambush and I refuse to let you blame yourself for my injuries. I know you guys would've done the same for me if I had been the one taken," Lance told him.

"Yeah we would have," Shiro said, his shoulders slumping slightly from the guilt he still felt. "I'm still sorry though," Shiro told him and Lance barely managed to hold back his sigh.

"I don't blame you – or anyone else, for that matter – for my injuries," Lance told him, "but you're completely forgiven so please try not to beat yourself up for what happened," Lance said. "If I can't blame myself for not thinking of training myself to use an offensive and defensive attack with Blue's ice simultaneously than you can't blame yourself for not seeing an ambush we had no inkling would happen coming," Lance said, using Shiro's own words against him. The look he got from Shiro told him the Black Paladin wasn't awfully happy at Lance's tactics but Lance couldn't find it in himself to care when Shiro finally nodded.

"I'll do my best," Shiro said, rolling his eyes when Lance let out a victorious whoop, however there was an amused grin pulling at his lips. "I should stop holding you up and let you go and see your Lion," Shiro said. Both of them felt the impatient growl reverberate along the floor they were standing on and Lance grinned as he nodded, silently teasing his Lion about having patience.

"That would be for the best," Lance laughed in agreement. "I'll see you later and don't beat yourself up anymore because Black _will_ tell me and I won't be very impressed," Lance warned him.

Shiro wasn't sure whether he was happy or annoyed that his Lion hummed in agreement in his mind at Lance's threat. "I'll do my best so long as you do yours to not blame yourself about not thinking of using Blue's ice two different ways at the same time," Shiro said, a brow raised pointedly.

Lance nodded in agreement. "Deal," he said, offering his hand for Shiro to shake on it, causing the Black Paladin to laugh and use the hand to pull Lance in for a hug that Lance readily and happily returned.

"Deal," Shiro echoed before he pulled away. "Try and get some rest. I know you're still tired," Shiro said and Lance nodded.

"That's the plan," Lance told him cheerily. He was looking forward to curling up in the soft blanket nest-slash-bed he had in Blue. He was just hoping his spare slippers were still in there so he wouldn't have to walk barefooted back to his room or wherever he went after he woke up next. "See you later," Lance said as he walked backwards a couple of steps, feeling Blue's impatience growing ever so slightly.

There was a sparkle in Shiro's eyes that told Lance he knew what Blue was likely thinking as he shooed Lance in the direction of Blue's hangar. "I'll see you later," he said, returning Lance's wave before he watched the teen disappear around the corner he needed to turn to get to his Lion's hangar.

Shiro didn't move for a couple of seconds but eventually turned in the other direction and headed back towards the part of the Castle-Ship where everyone else was likely close to. Though he wanted to sit down with Allura and Coran to start planning the new training sessions, Shiro knew he needed to find Hunk first and talk him into leaving Lance alone to nap until at least dinner time. It wouldn't be the first time he'd had to do this but he still found himself creating arguments in his mind to use in the talk to convince the Yellow Paladin to stay away from Blue's hangar. He couldn't blame Hunk for wanting to constantly check on Lance – Shiro had to fight the urge to do so any time one of the Paladins came out of the cryopod – and he knew Hunk knew why it was important to give Lance time to recover by sleeping but that didn't stop Hunk from being upset at the reminder. Sighing, Shiro elected to ignore Black's amusement at his plight as he walked towards the kitchen to find Hunk and have this conversation once more.

* * *

"Hello, beautiful," Lance greeted as he walked into his Lion's hangar and smiled up at her where she sat regally in the middle of it.

" _Hello, my cub,"_ Blue purred as she lowered her head and ramp so Lance could get inside. _"I thought you never going to be able to make it down here before the end of the day cycle,"_ she teased slightly as Lance headed for his blanket nest and snuggled into it.

"You're hilarious," Lance said flatly, even as he grinned. "You know why Shiro stopped me on my way here," he told her and Blue mentally nodded through his bond.

" _Yes, I know,"_ she admitted. _"I am glad he decided to come and find you immediately to apologise so you could talk to him and help rid him of the misplaced guilt he felt instead of him allowing it to fester,"_ Blue divulged and Lance hummed in agreement.

"Me too. He had no reason to feel guilty though," Lance said as he pulled another blanket over himself. "It's not like he and the team got kidnapped on purpose."

" _You know my pilot felt guilty over being indirectly responsible for you being hurt,"_ Black said, nudging herself into the conversation. _"I tried to tell him that you didn't blame him but I think he needed to hear it from you,"_ she told him. _"I'm certainly glad you're alright and I wanted to thank you for finding Shiro so quickly. I shudder to think what would've happened if you hadn't been able to get there before they found you,"_ Black said.

" _As do I,"_ Red said. _"Thank you for finding Keith and helping them all escape. I know he certainly appreciates it,"_ she told him.

" _So does my cub,"_ Green told Lance. _"I wish I had been there when that bastard had threatened my pilot. I would've squished him under my paw,"_ she growled, causing Lance to laugh slightly.

"I'm sure no one would've tried to threaten Pidge again if you'd done that," Lance told her, a touch of amusement in his voice.

" _No one would've tried threatening any of you if we had been there,"_ Yellow said. _"I certainly wouldn't have let them take my pilot and I know my sisters would've protected theirs just as fiercely,"_ she said and Lance heard four agreeing growls reverberate in his mind. _"However, what you managed to do by yourself will likely make plenty of our enemies think twice about risking your wrath. Those three who survived will tell others about how the Blue Paladin took down dozens of his enemies after they'd dared threaten his family. They will warn others about how you wielded ice as easily as you breathed and defeated their boss' fiery weapon. You'll never be underestimated again once that tale has made its way around the galaxy and into the next. No one will doubt your role as Blue's pilot ever again,"_ Yellow told him warmly, each word making Lance's cheeks flame once more.

" _My sister is absolutely right,"_ Blue purred comfortingly. _"You are_ my _pilot and there will no longer be any doubt in our enemies minds after yesterday,"_ she said confidently.

Lance could feel Black's, Red's and Green's agreement and felt the urge to bury himself in the bedding he was laying on. "Thank you," Lance said quietly through his bond with them. "All of you. I wouldn't have been able to help everyone as much as I did if you guys hadn't seen something in me and decided to establish a bond with me," Lance told them, voice drenched in emotion.

" _We saw what Blue saw in you. You are everything Alfor had in mind when he designed Blue and more,"_ Black told him, her voice nothing but honest. _"Blue couldn't have found herself a better pilot after Blaytz if she tried,"_ Black said.

" _You are everything I wanted in a pilot and I have never regretted choosing you as mine,"_ Blue told him, her voice drenched in pride and so much love that Lance felt himself nearly suffocating in it.

Green, Red and Yellow all made sure Lance felt their agreement with their sisters' words. "Thank you," was all Lance managed to say as he felt happy tears slowly track their way down his cheeks. He wanted to say more but he knew that he would likely start bawling from the emotion he felt so he settled for flooding his bonds with the Lions with his own love for them. For the first time, Lance felt no doubts about whether he was worthy of being Blue's pilot.

" _Get some rest, my Paladin,"_ Blue purred warmly in Lance's mind.

Lance curled a little more in his blankets and closed his eyes. Feeling the affection from the five Lions in his mind, Lance allowed himself to drift off into a deep sleep, comforted by the knowledge that his space family was safe and that he could finally admit to himself that he – self-perceived failings and undesirable traits included – was a valued and important member of the team and that he finally felt like he was a true Paladin of Voltron.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Here it is! Lance's chapter and the final chapter to this sequel! I hope everyone has enjoyed this story as much as I enjoyed writing it! Many thanks to those of you who have been kind and sweet enough to leave me a review on this story! I absolutely appreciated every review that was left and I hope to see a few new reviews about this chapter and the story as a whole :)
> 
> Just an FYI but I'll be posting the first chapter of my new crossover within a few minutes of this story being completed so keep an eye out for it if you want to read my How to Train Your Dragon x Rise of the Guardians story :)
> 
> Again, thank you so much for reading this story and I hope you all have a good day! FullmetalBitch xx

**Author's Note:**

> I hope you guys enjoyed Coran's chapter! Would love to hear your thoughts on it!! See you next week!


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